Vail, Sahuarita seek new schools

As many as four schools could have opened on these lots by next year to accommodate the flood of students moving into each school district, but only one will open by then, and district officials say it would be progress if construction begins on any of the others by 2008.

In these two fast-growing districts, land is at a premium, and it is often difficult to obtain. The undeveloped land is held either by the state or private owners, and developers and home builders also fight for space. This is generally the first step district officials take in planning for new schools, and they say the bureaucratic process is often what keeps buildings from opening when needed.

Because neither district owns the land on which they need to build these schools, and because neither district has the money to outright pay for the resources they need, they must wait for state support.

Administrators in both districts agree that state support — primarily from the Arizona School Facilities Board, which pays for school construction — often comes too late to beat population growth.

The state-appointed board doles out construction money based loosely on a student-per-square-foot formula that often gives money to districts only after a school's enrollment has grown past its capacity.

Sahuarita's K-12 enrollment is projected to nearly double in the next five years. Vail is projecting about 30 percent growth in its K-12 enrollment.

Waiting for growth to happen before building new schools means that rooms in existing schools have to be retrofitted to fit new students or that students are shifted from school to school until their own school opens.

State formula criticized

In Vail, most of the available land is owned by the state, and district administrators say the state doesn't seem to be in a hurry to offer the land for the much-needed elementary, middle and high schools.

Sahuarita administrators believe a K-8 campus and high school are being held up by a private landowner waiting for the highest bid from the state before letting go of the 70-acre plot.

While districts wait, home builders keep constructing homes, and families keep moving into them. In many cases, the new families relocate with the promise of a neighborhood school within a year.

"Schools are part of the infrastructure," said Sahuarita Superintendent Jay St. John. "They're not going to build a school until it's more than needed. Just like they never improve a road until they've got too many cars on it. They have to justify it."

Al Flores, Vail's director of facilities, said the formula — and the agency — needs a major overhaul.

"They don't give enough money to build the schools," he said, "and they need to work on their timing on when schools are awarded to give us enough time to design it and open it when we need it."

In Sahuarita, the state formula has hurt the district in its quest to build another high school, St. John said.

"We'll probably have kids hanging out of windows (at Sahuarita High School) before they think we need a new school," he said.

The School Facilities Board appears willing to discuss changes. At a symposium May 30 in Casa Grande, the board will discuss the formula that determines how many students must occupy a school before the state deems the school to be at capacity.

"That's as far as we are with it right now," said facilities board spokeswoman Kristen Landry.

Vail school building delayed

The construction of Vail's newest school, Ocotillo Ridge Elementary, was delayed so many times that the district had to do something drastic to accommodate the families moving into the newly built subdivisions surrounding the school.

For eight months, starting in July 2006, students who were scheduled to attend Ocotillo Ridge were bused to Acacia Elementary or district headquarters. Parents say they initially doubted that their children would get a good education in temporary spaces but were pleasantly surprised that the quality of education was not diminished.

"It wasn't perfect, but they've maintained standards and our teachers are doing great," said parent Tony LoMonaco, whose three children were split between the two temporary locations until Ocotillo Ridge opened in February.

Such drastic measures will continue in the district as delays push back opening dates for much-needed schools.

Vail's Senita Valley Elementary was scheduled to open at the beginning of the 2007-2008 school year, said Superintendent Calvin Baker, but when designs were voted down by the Arizona School Facilities Board, parents had to be told that their school wouldn't be ready until 2008.

Parent complaints are just part of the district's problem. Senita's proposed students have to go to school somewhere next year, so attendance boundaries were redrawn to send those displaced students to existing schools. As a result, the district had to reconfigure its budget to pay the costs associated with shifting students around, because the state does not pay for adjustments stemming from construction delays.

"We had to pay for temporary space, transport students all over, and we upset parents," Baker said. "The SFB (members) sitting in an office in Phoenix don't have to talk to those parents. We do."

But many parents have been supportive of the district's efforts to make the transitions as smooth as possible.

"With as many problems (as) they've had with the growth, they've not had any cutbacks on their education," said Hilary O'Bert, a parent of two at Ocotillo Ridge Elementary.

Parents are always part of any major decision the district makes, especially when it comes to school construction, Baker said. Parents are asked to be part of school planning committees and were part of the process to redraw attendance boundaries.

"Every time we do something of significance, we put together a committee that has a majority of parents," Baker said.

Growth projected to slow

Baker and other Vail administrators don't know what challenges might await them as they plan for three new schools after Senita Valley's opening. But future growth percentages are predicted to drop into single digits at least through 2015, which means the district could have a chance to catch up before the next wave of schools are needed.

"You can only accurately forecast out so far," said Vail facilities director Flores. "We may need more schools, we may need less."

Though Sahuarita Superintendent St. John appeared to be joking when he said Sahuarita High School will be so overcrowded that students will be pouring out of windows, it's a comment he's made in a serious tone for at least two years to the district's Governing Board and the state facilities board.

The high school has about 1,200 students, which St. John said was the planned capacity when the school opened 10 years ago.

The district expects its high school population to grow to 2,258 students by 2012, according to the district's most recent capital plan.

Freshman Jeremy Kemper said he doesn't foresee any problems with overcrowding in the next two years.

"I feel it's all right," he said. "There are one or two of my classes that don't (have empty desks), but there's a bunch that do."

Instead of putting money toward a new school, Kemper said, the current high school could use an upgrade.

"The library needs better computers," said Kemper, 15. "They're real old and slow. And every classroom should have a computer and a printer."

The local school board has approved a new high school, but St. John said he has continued to fight state officials to give him the school sooner than they say it is needed.

Since the School Facilities Board was created 10 years ago, many smaller districts have complained they are still at a disadvantage.

"They were trying to solve an equity problem," St. John said. "The wealthy districts are still going to have the better schools, because they are wealthy."

The major problem with dealing with a state agency for construction money, he said, is that bureaucracy takes time to dole out the funds. Administrators in small districts have often sung the same refrain: Eliminate the middle man and give money directly to them.

"Rather than give us our design standards, give us the money and let us do it ourselves," St. John said.

That way, he said, the high school that's planned for a 70-acre plot on La Cañada Drive west of Interstate 19 could be designed and built in about half the time.

"And that would only happen if I had all the money I needed today," he said.

Future schools

Sahuarita Unified School District

• Number of K-12 students in 2006-2007: 4,097

• Projected attendance in 2011-2012: 8,657

• Schools needed:

High school (approved by School Facilities Board to tentatively open in 2009 at La Cañada Drive west of Interstate 19 with 721 students).

K-8 school (approved by board to open tentatively in 2010 at La Cañada Drive west of Interstate 19 with 1,200 students).

Additional K-8 school and high school (planned but not approved by facilities board; no sites picked yet.)

Vail Unified School District

• Number of K-12 students in 2006-2007: 7,630

• Projected attendance in 2011-2012: 10,868

• Schools needed:

High school (not approved by board, though the district plans to apply in time for a 2009 opening on state-owned land south of Pima County Fairgrounds).

Middle school (not approved by board, though the district plans to apply in time for a 2009 opening on district-owned land near the intersection of Bilby and Houghton roads).

Elementary school (Not approved by facilities board, though the district plans to apply in time for a 2010 opening in Corona de Tucson).