A Tracy High father urges an exploration of all options to pay for local school upgrades.
No one has a magic wand to make all of the long-term problems at Tracy High School vanish overnight. There is a great deal of hard work and smart use of funds going on to make sure we adequately address the issues as soon as possible. Problems have brewed since the 1930s, in the case of the West Building, and for many, many decades with the other buildings.
The recent feedback on the urgent situation regarding the locker rooms and the unacceptable conditions has spurred action on behalf of THS. The Tracy Unified School District has put together a plan to address the majority of theses issues as fast as possible. The plan uses money set aside from Measure E and deferred maintenance. This is the best way to get these critical improvements done as quickly as possible.
The district has tried to get the money to fix Tracy High for almost four decades. In the past, bonds — the vehicle that the state requires to fund the improvement projects we need — did not pass. Now that Measure E has passed, great and positive things are under way. The condemned building has been removed, and a new classroom building will be completed by next school year. The West High stadium is up. A new joint-use pool will be used this summer by the people of Tracy.
The joint-use paradigm put forth by the agreement regarding the West High pool has broken new ground in city/school district relations and may be a new way to deliver to the people of Tracy more athletic and sports facilities more efficiently than ever before. This has been hailed by the Tracy Press and others in city government and our community as a positive development that can make for a better future.
Nevertheless, renovation is a challenging task, especially in light of the fact that the state had some significant changes to the school building codes that were put in place well after Measure E was passed. Some of these took effect just a few months ago and may still impact the progress at Tracy High School. On the other hand, the current economy has created a more favorable climate for school construction, and it has worked out that building new is more efficient and cheaper than renovations. When you can get something better for less, this is a good thing.
We have to use a variety of funds to address improving facilities at both high schools. To say that the funding should come only from Measure E would shortchange our community because of the way the state allows schools to finance improvements and repairs. TUSD must use every effort to tap every funding source available to improve our schools.
California collects money from Tracy citizens every day, and there are ways by which schools and communities can get some of that money back. TUSD should and must use every funding source, because that is the way the system works. TUSD should get every penny available to improve our schools to minimize the burden on local taxpayers.
Let’s remember that TUSD must manage two massive construction projects at its two existing high schools, the construction of a third high school and huge budget cuts brought about by the declining state economy.
The school district is run by people. Those people have a lot to do right now. They are working very hard and juggling a lot of balls in the air. Things will happen that might cause incomplete communication or, perhaps, a lack of focus on items that some of us may feel are really important. But the results of their efforts promise to be extraordinary.
For once in our community, positive things are happening at our high schools. West will be complete. Tracy High will be vastly improved. Kimball High will be built complete with all amenities. These next few years will culminate in three fine high schools contributing to a greatly improved community.
• Peter Holtz is chairman of the Measure E Oversight Committee. He’s a parent of Tracy High students, and he’s a certified public accountant.
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