Michael Wilkes, a principal at Delawie Wilkes Rodrigues Barker, says campus buildings that have far outlived their lifespan are being replaced with modern, state-of-the-art buildings. (photo/lambertphoto.com)

When facilities planning director Rodger Smith joined the Del Mar Union School District five years ago, the elementary district had six campuses. Since then, Del Mar has opened its seventh campus, is building an eighth, and is looking at a possible ninth and 10th. “In the last 10 years, the district has more than tripled its size,” Smith says.

Why the rapid expansion? “Carmel Valley,” Smith replies. New and growing communities need schools.

And if growth isn’t the issue, it’s outdated facilities.

So goes the story for districts across the county, from elementary and secondary to community college. And it doesn’t end there. Universities and private schools also are expanding construction. It is the kind of boom that area contractors and architects are noting.

“It’s one of the markets that we’re trying to focus on for that reason — there does seem to be kind of an upward trend in school building,” says James Frye, a project manager with Sundt Construction, which is working on Mater Dei Catholic High School in Otay Ranch. Sundt is also building San Ysidro High School’s performing arts complex, set to open in 2008. “In this area alone (Chula Vista) where Mater Dei is located, there are five high schools within a five-mile radius. They just opened Olympian High School probably half a mile or a mile to the south of us.”

At the north end of the county, the same scenario is playing out in Carmel Valley, where the San Dieguito Union High School District is putting finishing touches on Canyon Crest Academy just a few blocks away from the new Cathedral Catholic High School and a couple of miles from the district’s Torrey Pines High School, which recently completed a two-building expansion.

The Corky McMillin Cos., a developer of villages in Otay Ranch, set aside land for Olympian High School in partnership with the Sweetwater Union High School District and the city of Chula Vista. For every village McMillin builds in Otay Ranch, it must identify a location for an elementary school, says Todd Galarneau, a McMillin project manager. For every few villages, a high school site is needed.

For every village The Corky McMillin Cos. builds in Otay Ranch, it must identify a location for an elementary school, says Todd Galarneau, a project manager for the developer.

“Both the elementary school and the high school district are two of the fastest growing districts in the United States,” Galarneau notes. “They’ve done an admirable job of building facilities and keeping pace with development.”

Mark Mardock, senior vice president of McCarthy Building Cos.’ education business unit, sees the San Diego schools market as one worth being in.

“We’ve been trying more recently to get more active in the market, and I think there’s a demand for us to get more active in other aspects of the market down there, and we’ve broken that with San Diego City Schools,” says Mardock, whose company is managing construction for the $22.6 million, 56,800-square-foot Laura Rodriguez Elementary School in Barrio Logan.

A look at San Diego City Schools’ projects shows the feverish pace of development in that district — nine additional campuses between September 2005 and September 2007, reveal records provided by Erika R. Wilgenburg, facilities communications supervisor.

Two new elementary schools opened in 2005. One opened in January, along with the first half of another, and yet another is set to open this month. Three more elementary schools are scheduled to open in September 2007, plus the second half of the Walter J. Porter campus. Thurgood Marshall Middle School is also on track for a 2007 opening.

That’s in addition to three schools demolished and completely rebuilt — Mead Elementary School, which reopened in March, and Burbank Elementary and Lincoln High, both slated to open in September 2007.

Doug Barnhart, of construction management firm Douglas E. Barnhart, lists about 20 education-related projects countywide right now, including all four of MiraCosta College’s projects, Bernardo Elementary in Escondido and the reconstruction of Lincoln High.
“Right off the top of my head, that’s all I can think of,” Barnhart says. “We have probably that much or more up in Riverside and Orange County and Ventura County, and on up in Stockton.”

The demolition and renovation of campuses shows the pressing need to update aging facilities incompatible with current and future technology, say administrators, architects and contractors.

“What you’re seeing is that buildings that have far outlived their lifespan are being replaced with modern, state-of-the-art buildings,” says Michael Wilkes of architectural firm Delawie Wilkes Rodrigues Barker, which has done work for local colleges and universities. “Buildings that in fact are excellent pieces of architecture but simply have outlived their lifespan are being renovated and upgraded.”

“You’ve got the increasing understanding and awareness that an improved educational environment is important for success,” adds Eric Hall of Eric Hall and Associates, a consulting firm that helps districts navigate the process of building schools.

Hall formerly served as the San Dieguito Union High School District’s chief business officer for about 14 years and served as president of CASH, the Coalition for Adequate School Housing, a statewide organization of school business officials who watch what’s happening in building and funding in the state.

Good Economy

Administrators and construction professionals say one key factor has worked in schools’ favor the last few years — money.

For private schools, it’s simply a strong economy. For public districts, a strong economy can lead to the passage of bonds.

“When the economy is good, people can raise funds in fund-raising campaigns and then they build. And that’s been the cycle of independent schools for the last hundred years, not just in California but all over the place,” explains Eileen Mullady, head of Pacific Ridge, a private secondary campus under development in Carlsbad’s new Bressi Ranch community. “A strong economy means people will make large gifts, and large gifts mean you get to build.”

A major turning point for public schools was the passage of Proposition 39 in 2000, says Damon Schamu, vice chancellor of facilities services for the San Diego Community College District. It changed the majority needed to pass a bond measure from two-thirds to 55 percent. What followed was a series of bond measures across the county, widely successful to this point.

“With that tool, districts have been taking bond measures to the voters for capital improvement programs. There are actually four that I know of that are coming up this November,” says Joe Minner of developer Gafcon, which counts education as about one-third of its projects.

Carlsbad Unified School District, Palomar and San Diego community college districts, and Sweetwater Union High School District all plan bonds for the November ballot. Carlsbad seeks $198 million while Sweetwater seeks $644 million. These are in addition to other bonds already passed across the county in the past few years.

San Diego Community College District placed Proposition S, a $685 million bond measure, on the ballot in 2002. Voter support exceeded expectations.

“It turned out we got 69 percent for Proposition S,” Schamu says.

While not all districts in the county have used bonds to build or renovate schools, several are taking advantage of the public’s receptive mood, which was already warming before Proposition 39’s approval.

San Diego City Schools placed Proposition MM on the ballot in 1998. The $1.51 billion bond measure passed with 78 percent of the vote. But the district’s need is already outgrowing the bond.

A second measure is planned for the 2008 ballot, says Wilgenburg.

Challenges Ahead

Districts and private schools are building to meet increasing enrollment demand, administrators say. But that increase only goes so far, as districts in coastal North County are discovering.

“Now we’re experiencing a decline in enrollment,” Hall says.

San Dieguito and Del Mar district officials have expressed concern in recent months over the trend of stagnating or declining enrollment. Does that mean new, empty schools? Not really, administrators have said.

As newer communities such as Carmel Valley reach build-out, it’s expected that the facilities will meet the needs of what will now be a maturing community. The problem lies down the line in state funding based on student enrollment.

Private schools are feeling the pressure as they work to build campuses in communities where the demand is already high.

“There really are no middle and independent high schools in North County, and as the commute down to Bishop’s and La Jolla Country Day and Francis Parker became more difficult for families, they thought that North County should have its own high quality independent school,” Mullady says of the Pacific Ridge campus, which was the brainchild of Carlsbad parents seeking such a school in their area.

“We’re right in the midpoint of permitting,” says Philip Hitch, Pacific Ridge’s director of finance. The goal is to start grading the 7.5 acre site by mid-December.

Charter school High Tech High also has embarked on a campaign to open middle and high school campuses in Escondido. The school seeks nearly $3 million for its Escondido fund-raising effort, according to its Case for Support document.

Successful bonds and fund-raising also can’t control another key concern — the cost of materials. And it’s an issue that resonates beyond schools.

“All of the companies or schools, or even other public agencies, that have capital projects face similar issues, the primary one being the continued increase in the cost of materials in the construction market,” Gafcon’s Minner says.

Worldwide demand for steel and other materials from countries such as China has increased their costs, Minner and other industry experts say. Last year’s hurricanes along the Gulf Coast also had an impact on the cost of materials.

“I think that had a pretty devastating effect as well because of all the rebuilding efforts that are going on right now,” adds Frye of Sundt Construction. “(The hurricanes) actually destroyed some resin plants in that area of the country, which affected PVC piping prices.”

The issue has come up at school board meetings.

“I want to reiterate that has been a topic at every meeting we’ve had with the architect,” Solana Beach School District Superintendent Leslie Fausset told the school board back in April during an early review of plans for the district’s seventh campus.

“The expenses have gone up tremendously,” Hall says, noting that it isn’t simply material costs. Various building codes, Americans with Disabilities Act compliance and other issues make the process considerably more complex.

Good project management is key to getting projects completed in difficult times, Minner advises.

“A lot of the districts that use professional help in executing their program, delivering all of their different capital projects, have had a good track record of having those projects come in on schedule and within revised budget numbers,” he says.

For Barnhart, the rewards of increased school construction are not necessarily measured in dollars.

“I’ll tell you why I like the educational projects,” Barnhart says. “I like to build projects that have impact in the community. Schools fall into that category. Plus the fact that if you do a good job — and I think environment is important in education — you can assist in development of future leaders. So who knows? A future mayor, a future governor — maybe even a future president — may be going into one of these schools.”