OUSD to review Oceanside High theater design

By: KEITH RUSHING - Staff Writer | Wednesday, January 3, 2007 11:17 PM PST ∞

OCEANSIDE -- School district trustees should be able to review preliminary designs for a theater at Oceanside High School within the next several weeks, district officials said.

Associate Superintendent Brian Sullivan said earlier this week that he plans to bring a design to trustees by the end of January or early February. If the board approves the preliminary plans, Sullivan said, construction at the site would not begin probably until the summer of 2008, after all plans have been finalized.

The theater project would consume about $8 million remaining from a $125 million school construction bond approved by Oceanside Unified School District voters in 2000.

The district has used the bond money to build a new elementary school, numerous classroom buildings at various campuses and another elementary school and middle school that are set to open in the fall.

However, renovations to aging district schools that were to be paid for with bond funds have been delayed because there's enough money left only for the theater, district officials have said.

They said bond funds didn't go as far as expected because of rapidly rising construction costs during the last several years and the loss of about $72 million in anticipated state matching funds. The district no longer qualified for the matching funds when its enrollment began dropping unexpectedly in 2002.

In recent months, a number of trustees have said they'd support another bond measure to finish the renovation work that hasn't been completed.

Those statements followed a citizens task force report released in October that stated that 16 of the district's 24 schools have inadequate air-conditioning systems and insufficient electrical systems to support new computer technology.

Although the district has some discretion about how to spend the remaining bond money, district officials said trustees have stated a strong preference for getting the theater built.

"There will be a theater with the remains of the money," Superintendent Ken Noonan said Tuesday. "The board wants a theater. They've told us that clearly."

Trustee Janet Bledsoe Lacy said building a theater at Oceanside High is a "priority" for her. "It was in our bond plan that was approved by the voters and we need to fulfill (that) obligation."

She said the trustees have had to make hard choices about what work they can complete.

"There's not enough funds to do everything," she said. "But we promised that part of the money was going to be used for the theater."

Sullivan said the district is seeking $7 million in state matching funds from the state's Office of Public School Construction that would be used for the theater.

Noonan said the district would need between $15 and $20 million to build a theater that's comparable to the performing arts building at the district's other comprehensive high school, El Camino High. Securing those funds will determine whether a theater can be built that's on par with the one at El Camino High.

Noonan said Oceanside High has hundreds of students who participate in drama, choral, orchestral and dance groups without a performance space.

While there's an old stage in the gym, Noonan said, the numerous sports teams and physical education classes don't allow Oceanside High to meet its performing arts needs.

Noonan said the bond voters passed in 2000 included a commitment to make the district's schools equal to one another.

"If a child's on one side of town and a child's on the other side of town, we promised they would have equal facilities," he said. "We can't walk away from Oceanside High School and say we've kept our promise to the voters to make (schools) equal. That's a promise we made and it's a promise I propose to keep."

Lacy said the theater project is essential for providing a solid education.

"It''s been proven that academic test scores rise for those students are who involved in theater, drama and music," she said. "This is not just a pastime. It certainly provides a foundation for success academically."

-- Contact Staff Writer Keith Rushing at (760) 901-4151 or krushing@nctmes.com.

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