Hollister residents and San Benito High School trustees gathered Wednesday night to talk about ideas for a planned expansion of the current campus.
“We’re looking for ways to improve quality education for every student,” said board Trustee Ray Rodriguez.
The meeting was called to gather input from community members for campus expansion and whether a $39 million bond measure might come up for a vote next year to raise money to make infrastructure and technology improvements to San Benito High School. Rodriguez said officials were considering a bond measure to be included on next year’s ballot that would raise $30 per $100,000 of assessed home value to raise money for the infrastructure improvements.
The bond measure would raise about $39 million. To make all the improvements and changes a recently approved master plan proposed by the district – school officials have chosen an expansion project over a possible second campus – the school would have to raise about $78 million, which includes the $39 million figure.
“Ongoing maintenance has become a drain on school funds,” said Rodriguez in a presentation to the approximately 100 attendees. He said many classrooms are 50 to 60 years old and that some are former World War II barracks that were moved to Hollister after the war.
“All revenue from this bond would be spent at San Benito High School and not by the state,” Rodriguez said.
Audience members applauded when Rodriguez said part of the master plan would include new, safer dropoff areas for students along Nash Road, a problem for many commuters in the mornings and afternoons because of traffic concerns.
Chris Vincencio, an architect from NTD Architecture that worked on the master plan, said the plan would also consider closing off parts of Nash Road near the school.
“We looked for a way to move Nash Road from cutting through the campus,” he said.
He said three key elements of the plan included code/safety, housekeeping and transportation. The plan would include turning administration areas into performing arts classrooms, a new education vocational complex and additional parking lots.
After the presentation, community members split up into five separate groups to discuss what residents would like to see from the measure if it passes.
“We don’t want to put all the money into roofs,” said Trustee Steve Delay.
He said the focus of the meeting was to gather input about other priorities such as new school facilities, technology improvements and other items.
Some members in that group, including David Salcedo of Hollister, asked if the school district had looked at other schools in the area to examine what they have done with their improvements.
“We have looked at separate schools,” Delay said, mentioning the Salinas School District as an example.
Other folks focused on what the school teaches – including expanding current vocational programs in agriculture.
“Jobs are all over the place in agriculture,” said Ian Hudson of Hollister. “We need to analyze what we need and cater that to the students.”
The trustees listed some of the ideas from the community – which included but were not limited to: new math and science buildings, more equipment for tutoring, a covered pool, music buildings, baseball fields, soccer fields, a wrestling room, and new computers.
“Our technology around here – we’re still running on copper wires,” said Delay, stressing the need for improved electrical facilities, in addition to new computer systems and other high-tech additions.
The current plan would accommodate up to 3,500 students – or about 1,000 more than currently attend the high school. Delay said all of these improvements wouldn’t occur immediately and are long-term goals.
“We’re trying to develop a sequence on how to build probably for the next 20 years,” he said.
The board of trustees would have to make a decision on the bond issue by March 2014. Then the bond measure would be submitted by August in time for the November election. Still, the money wouldn’t kick in for three to four years before major improvements could be made, Delay said.
“We want to build this place so it makes sense,” he said.
In November of last year, the board approved the facilities master plan after receiving input from the community in a survey. But the board wanted more input from the community before moving ahead.
“You eat an elephant one bite at a time,” said Paulette Cobb, the coordinator of special education at San Benito High School.
ESTIMATED COSTS
New Classroom Buildings: $9.0 million
New Career Technology Buildings: $5.2 million
Maintenance & Operations (Housekeeping): $4.0 million
New Baseball Fields: $3.6 million
New Softball Fields: $3.6 million
New Athletic Plaza and Field House: $3.5 million
New Performing Arts Building: $3.1 million
New Multi-Purpose Building: $2.4 million
New Campus Information Technology: $2.4 million
New Aquatic Center: $1.9 million
New Maintenance and Bus Facilities: $1.9 million
New Campus Parking Lots: $1.7 million
Transform Exiting Cafeteria Into New Food Court:
$1.4 million
New Science Classroom Building: $1.3 million
Health, Safety and Access (Code): $1.1 million
New Classroom Teaching Walls: $892,000
Administration Transformation: $840,000
New Campus Courtyard: $750,000
New Campus Power Infrastructure Upgrades: $500,000
New Direct/Indirect Lighting: $329,000
Estimated cost: $48-49 million, according to the initial estimate in the document
MORE INFORMATION
For more information on the master plan, including pictures of potential facility additions and cost summaries, go to San Benito High School District’s Master Plan page at http://sbhsd-ca.schoolloop.com/facilities-plan.
