Merced County schools need help now.
That's the message a group of educators is trying to spread to anyone who
will listen, including the county's Board of Supervisors and area city
councils, urging those who govern to take the schools into account when it
comes to local development.
The group, Coalition of Advocates Regarding Education, is made up
of superintendents and board members from most of the county's school
districts.
Group members say the schools won't have room for the 28,000 students
projected to arrive in the next 15 years without expansions and improvements.
But by exploring funding options other than school bond measures, which
are not guaranteed to pass, it's not too late to prevent the problem.
One idea is to ask developers to pay more in school fees -- costs they
pass on to homebuyers, many of whom will be introducing their own children
into the already crowded districts.
"We're not opposed to growth," said CARE member Andree Soares,
president of the Los Banos Unified School District board. "We're
opposed to growth that doesn't pay its own way."
Merced County's population 15 years from now is projected to be 338,000,
a 60 percent increase.
The county might need at least a dozen new schools to accommodate those
students, CARE members told county supervisors last week.
However, schools aren't cheap. An elementary school costs between $12
million and $16 million; it costs between $25 million and $40 million
for a middle school; and between $40 million and $85 million to build
a high school.
Increased developer fees can cover some of those costs.
For example, the Los Banos Unified School District struck a deal with
Ranchwood Homes two weeks ago for the development firm to pay an
extra $17 million for its Los Banos projects -- money that will go to
schools.
The school district is negotiating similar deals with other developers.
CARE board member Lee Andersen, Merced County's superintendent
of schools, said such agreements benefit developers and school districts.
"They understand their homes are not going to be attractive for sale if
the schools are severely overcrowded," Andersen said.
CARE helped planners and developers reach similar deals when the
coalition formed 12 years ago, and Andersen said CARE's efforts are
partly responsible for the construction of Buhach Colony and Golden
Valley high schools.
Back then, Merced and Atwater were experiencing growth similar to today's.
The group was only active for a couple of years, having done its job
at the time.
But now CARE is back together.
"The mission of our group is to provide the public with information,
not to negotiate," Andersen said.
But awareness affects negotiations, Soares said.
"Right now, we're really in the phase of an awareness campaign," she
said, "making sure our community leaders are well aware of what we see
as the largest crisis to face the county in a long time."
