Measure HH Facilities: A Look to the Future
When the Carlsbad community voted in 2018 to approve Measure HH, the district’s $265M facilities bond measure, we all looked forward with great anticipation to seeing the inspiring environments in the newly modernized schools where students would be learning and creating.
Now our Measure HH Phase 1 projects are largely completed, and those beautifully modernized and renovated buildings – at Magnolia, Hope, and Kelly Elementary Schools; Carlsbad High School’s Science Building; and STEAM labs at Poinsettia and Pacific Rim Elementary Schools – are serving students. As we look forward to the finalization of our Phase 1 projects, we are also looking forward to the commencement of our upcoming Phase 2 projects.
Carlsbad Unified recently welcomed Jessica Kimbrell, our new Director of Facilities Planning and Construction Management, who brings many years of experience in school construction management. She will provide day-to-day management and project oversight, assisting with cost containment and consistency in projects across the district.
We are currently embarking on the final design, engineering, and permitting process for Measure HH Phase 2 projects. These will include campus-wide renovations at Valley Middle School and at Jefferson, Buena Vista, and Aviara Oaks Elementary Schools. Phase 2 projects will also include new STEAM Labs at Aviara Oaks, Buena Vista, Calavera Hills, and Jefferson Elementary Schools, and at Aviara Oaks and Valley Middle Schools.
Buena Vista will see the replacement of old portables with new modular classrooms, a new STEAM building, a redesigned pre-school area, and new landscaping. At Jefferson, two classrooms will be converted into a Culinary Arts Room and a STEAM Lab, and ten classrooms will be modernized. Aviara Oaks will get remodeled Kindergarten classrooms, a STEAM Lab, a new quad to replace older portables, and other interior modifications. Valley will undergo a campus-wide interior modernization with new STEAM collaboration rooms, a new Special Education classroom located to promote inclusion, and renovated restrooms.
All of these projects still must be submitted for review by a number of agencies. But construction at Jefferson may begin as soon as this summer, and we estimate that the other Phase 2 projects will begin in the summer of 2023.
We acknowledge that there will be challenges as we move into Phase 2. Post-pandemic, we are seeing rising costs on labor and materials, and we are experiencing a different bidding environment. Still, we are confident that our professional teams of architects, contractors, construction managers, and district staff will make it happen. We were successful in selling $28M in certificates of participation to supplement our remaining Measure HH funds, and in using existing Mello Roos dollars to help offset the impact of inflation. Our goals for Phase 2 are to integrate stakeholder input into our plans; to maximize and prioritize the impact of limited dollars in these times of rising costs; and to ensure parity, to the extent possible, among all of our campuses.
Carlsbad Unified thanks the Carlsbad community for supporting these investments in your schools. We are grateful to the construction teams, engineers, and architects, and we appreciate the patience and understanding of our teachers, staff, and students as they deal with the inconvenience of construction work on campus. These projects will support the academic performance of our students and the property values in our community for many years to come.
