VUSD looks at options for magnet high schools

By: STACY BRANDT - Staff Writer
District has the money to finish the campus, officials say | Tuesday, March 18, 2008 10:29 PM PDT ∞

VISTA -- The Vista Unified School District will have enough money to pay for construction of its long-awaited magnet high school campus if plans are downgraded to include a modular front office and cafeteria, district officials said Tuesday.

Donna Caperton, the district's chief business officer, presented the school board Tuesday with a new contract for most of the work on the Mission Vista High Schools campus the district is building near the corner of Highway 76 and Melrose Drive in eastern Oceanside. At the special board meeting, the trustees decided to wait two weeks to vote on the contract, saying they thought the public should get a chance to look at it before it's approved.

The new contract, which would push the total cost of the campus to more than $95 million, was necessary because the plans the original contract was based on were inaccurate and incomplete, district officials have said.

The district signed a $47 million contract two years ago with Temecula-based EDGE Development for its portion of the work, which included nearly everything except the modular classrooms. Those are part of a separate $11 million contract with Modtech Manufacturing and Construction.

After a series of delays and little work at the site, EDGE Development pulled out most of its workers last summer while it waited for state officials to approve the district's revamped plans and for district officials to agree to related cost increases.

Earlier this month, EDGE gave the district its new estimate of $60 million for the work.

By using modular buildings for the office and cafeteria instead of bricks and mortar, the district would shave more than $6 million from that total. However, the district still would have to pay nearly $2 million for someone to put in the modular buildings.

In total, the district needs $55 million for the construction, which Caperton said is available as long as some money is shifted around. The district has nearly $50 million set aside for the work, but by using savings from other projects and moving some money from other funds, the district will be able to cover the whole $55 million cost, she said.

The campus was a key project of the $140 million bond measure voters passed in 2002, and was heralded as a way to ease overcrowding at the district's two main high schools. At that time, the cost for the magnet high school campus was estimated at $52 million, nearly half the amount it's now expected to cost.

It's expected to be finished in the fall of 2009 and will house two separate magnet schools, one of which will focus on arts and communication, while the other will emphasize science and technology.

At Tuesday's meeting, district officials recommended against starting the schools at the district's two existing comprehensive high schools while they wait for the campus to be built. Next month, the school board will consider whether or not to open a small pilot program at the downtown Vista campus that now houses 200 students at the Vista Magnet Middle School.

"We may be able to save this thing yet," Trustee David Hubbard said at the meeting about the push to get some sort of program started this year.

District officials originally planned to open Mission Vista High Schools on the 66-acre site in eastern Oceanside for 500 students this August. However, the board decided earlier this month to postpone the opening in response to the construction delays and as a way to save money.

-- Contact staff writer Stacy Brandt at (760) 901-4009 or sbrandt@nctimes.com.

13 comment(s)[-]Go to Top

Jack wrote on Mar 19, 2008 7:25 AM:So how will they save money? We were sold on the idea that the bond money was supposed to be used for the purpose of building permanent facilities. Well, we know the schools were not built so they cheaply and shamelessly put in a bunch of trailers. So Stacy has anyone done the cost of running the air conditioner and the heater on these trailers? I am sure who ever got the brilliant idea that it would save money is no longer working for VUSD any longer. When I first moved to Oceanside I asked about the trailers in Empresa since the developers paid for real schools (across the boulevard Oceanside built real schools.) I was told by the VUSD district administration that the trailers were temporary. Well, 20 years latter the temporary trailer never left. Now we are told they are not trailers but modular how cool is that? Modular sounds like if we are housing students in Tupperware and in the summer you can suffocate if the air is not on high all the time. In the winter they are like aluminum cans. $$$$$$$$$

District Office Remodel Time? wrote on Mar 19, 2008 8:06 AM:How much money did VUSD spend and how much could have been saved on the recent complete district office remodel? Not wise during a time of budgetary crisis... Simply the wrong message. What funding was used to purchase all the new oversized chairs at $700 per chair? Who is making these decisions? Dr. Bales? Mr. Gibson? who....

For The Public wrote on Mar 19, 2008 8:45 AM:Regarding "saying they thought the public should get a chance to look at it before it's approved" ... the entire package is supposed to be posted on the district's web site tonight, so you can AND SHOULD read at least part of it, maybe starting tomorrow.

Umm.. wrote on Mar 19, 2008 10:46 AM:They are pink slipping teachers - building a new school or two.. and they have to .. umm.. hire more teachers.

Amazed in Vista wrote on Mar 19, 2008 11:15 AM:Inaccurate and incomplete drawings? Is the District going after the designers? Looks like the contractor pulled the wool over the district's eyes. Their original award was for $42M. Their original bid in Jan 06 was below $40M. Now they are up to the real cost of $60M. They should cancel the contract, and start all over. Is anyone accountable anymore?

spider monkey wrote on Mar 19, 2008 11:46 AM:Priorities are totally off if they are building new schools and getting rid of teachers. How about VUSD keep the teachers and build a school when the proper funds are located. Umm. Has it right. The schools are not going to be able to run themselves. They have gone this long without a new school why change when the money is not there? KEEP THE TEACHERS & FORGET THE NEW SCHOOLS!!!!

Minutes? wrote on Mar 19, 2008 11:56 AM:Where are the minutes for the 2/21 and 3/6 Board meetings? Shouldn't they be posted on VUSD's website prior to the next meeting? Or at least immediately following the next meeting at which they are approved by the Board? Meeting minutes for local government should be made available to taxpayers at the earliest opportunity - which should be within 7 working days of the meeting.

Enrique wrote on Mar 19, 2008 2:17 PM:The District has done a great job at putting this project out in advance of the plans to try to get a lower price. The market for construction has hit many public agencies. The circumstances including the delays caused by the internal struggle of the board, their delay, their infighting and one or two board members challenging the district legally on this project has lead to much of the delay and increase in costs. The board's uncertainty on this project along with the EIR issues, change of staff, the adjacent developers limited motivation to proceed with development and traffic and grading challenges have all lead to the 'perfect storm' of increased costs. Most of this is no fault of a great staff that have worked hard, pursued the funding and approvals with the State, have come up with a creative plan to finish this school and pushed forward on this project in difficult circumstances. The students of the VUSD will benefit from the good work of the staff as well as the board members that support this project. It is a creative solution to the challenge of large high schools.

Tired of VUSD wrote on Mar 19, 2008 3:06 PM:I sure hope they decided to finally do SOMETHING to get this project finished. Its rediculous that this project was not fully rebid at this point. As soon as Edge could not meet their original bids...wouldn't you think to try another company? I mean if they can't meet their 40 million bid, why does the board think they'll meet the new one?

Why is this project costing 5-8 times the cost putting in 150 luxury executive homes in Del Sur? The "blasting" is just no excuse, because the numbers still do not add up. There are so many developers hurting right now, I bet they could get a good deal.

Another HS in the area is badly needed and has been for years. I know I'll send my kids to Mission Vista instead of VHS any day...

Sam wrote on Mar 19, 2008 4:10 PM:Fire all the VUSD board and district officials all the way up to the govenor, and start over very slowly hiring people that can think, wisely. People we are getting screwed more and more and still want to get screwed again. People wake up, Govenor too.

We're Giving Up.. wrote on Mar 20, 2008 9:22 AM:The article says "will have enough money to pay for construction of its long-awaited magnet high school campus if"..from the board meeting, there were a few other items, like a Rancho Minerva multipurpose room, deferred maintenance on the other schools...too bad this article didn't touch on the rest of what has to be given up.

On VUSD's Web Site wrote on Mar 20, 2008 10:31 AM:Top center, there's a link to the documents for Mission Vista High School Contracts and Guaranteed Minimum Price Proposal. If you read nothing else, at least look at the two page Board Presentation and note what goes into the GMP, and the funding sources to see where the money has to be taken from, including the Rancho Minerva multipurpose, some traffic mitigation, some books from the general fund...It's your money, folks.

VUSD lame ducks wrote on Mar 26, 2008 6:26 AM:All, it's time to remember come election day that the incumbents are running the district into the ground. Who ever said they needed to build a bunch of new facilities in light of decreasing enrollment? The bonds would have been better served in renovating and equipping existing facilities; instead, the district used the bonds as an open purse to build without thinking about the impact of the increased debt service on the district. Now our K-3 children will suffer as the district RIF'ed (layoff notices) 120 probationary and newly tenured teachers who allowed a 20:1 ratio in those grades. The district's overall performance scores trail in this county; and their continued inept motions continue to strip the district of any advantage that could help boost learning in our community.

It's a sad day for my own kindergartener...

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