Superintendent Schmitt’s monthly update: Proposition AA building projects

Superintendent Rick Schmitt plans to update the greater San Dieguito Union High School District community through local media with a monthly update. Topics covered will include curriculum, facilities, budget, enrollment, safety, and more. Today’s update focuses on Prop AA building projects.

Prop AA Building Projects

When the San Dieguito Union High School District placed Proposition AA on the ballot, we made many promises to the community. We promised that the improvements to our schools would prepare students for 21st-century colleges and careers. We also promised that we would use the bond funds in a responsible, cost-efficient way.

I am proud to say we are keeping those promises.

We are nearing completion of a new science building at Torrey Pines HS, we will be starting a new math and science building at San Dieguito High School Academy this summer, media center upgrades are coming to Oak Crest Middle School, and we will continue to expand our network and wireless bandwidth throughout the district. Pacific Trails Middle School will open this fall in Pacific Highlands Ranch to meet the growing population. One elementary school just opened nearby, with another planned.

Over the next two years, we plan to rebuild Earl Warren Middle School (our oldest middle school) and renovate the 40-year-old academic classrooms at Torrey Pines High School with modern, energy-efficient infrastructure. We will also begin design and construction of the final classroom building at Canyon Crest Academy to expand its enrollment capacity due to a rapidly increasing student population in the southern portion of our district. A new two-story English, social sciences and arts building at San Dieguito High School Academy is also in the works.

All of the projects we have completed so far have been on-time and at or below budget — a tribute to the efficient work of our staff and the competitive processes we have in place to drive down costs, award contracts, and hold contractors responsible.

I would also like to thank the members of the Independent Citizens’ Oversight Committee who hold us equally accountable to our community.

We are working on issuing our next series of bonds to fund all of the work mentioned above. We will not be issuing capital appreciation bonds that other districts have used that drive up interest costs. The current market conditions are favorable, and we expect to keep the payback ratio below 2:1, as we did with our first series of bonds issued in 2013. Our commitment to honor the estimated tax rate promised to voters is solemn.

Our Board of Trustees will consider the issuance of our next series of bonds at its meeting at 6:30 p.m. March 19 at Carmel Valley Middle School in the Media Center, 3800 Mykonos Lane, San Diego. Once we have completed the bond sale, I will report back to you on the results.

SPECIAL HS Enrollment Important Announcement

On Wednesday, March 18, at exactly 3:30 p.m., the San Dieguito Union High School District will tweet (Twitter) information regarding the 2015-16 High School Selection requests. A follow-up Facebook post will be made exactly at 3:45 p.m. Later in the week, specific details will be sent via email to each family.

You can follow Superintendent Schmitt on Facebook, (https://www.facebook.com/sduhsd), and Twitter, (https://twitter.com/SDUHSD_Supt).