Capo Unified to Consider School Repairs Throughout District

The Capistrano Unified school board will discuss next week making the district’s first major repairs since the economic downturn at eight campuses, in San Clemente, Dana Point, Laguna Niguel and Aliso Viejo.

The district is facing $822 million in facility needs but only expects to have $44 million on hand to address them, trustees learned last month. Still, it’s something, and so staff is recommending about $13 million worth of repairs to eight schools.

District staff is asking trustees to approve going out to bid on the San Clemente High roof repairs and the Dana Hills heating/ventilation/air conditioning system upgrades right away. The other projects would come back for additional consideration.

Here are all the near-term projects proposed:

San Clemente High – TOTAL: $6.15 million

• General upgrades: $500,000
• Roofing: $1.4 million
• Artificial turf: $500,000
• Fire alarm upgrade: $1.7 million
• Painting: $445,000
• Carpet/flooring: $500,000
• Locker replacement: $250,000
• Select HVAC upgrades: $100,000
• Triton Center improvements: $750,000

Dana Hills High, Dana Point – Total $2.5 million

• Replace HVAC air handlers

Shorecliffs Middle, San Clemente – Total: $2.45 million

• General upgrades: $400,000
• Roofing: $1.4 million
• Painting: $95,000
• Reconstruct portables: $500,000
• Carpet/flooring: $150,000

R.H. Dana Elementary, Dana Point – Total: $547,000

• General upgrades: $375,000
• Window replacement: $172,000

Palisades Elementary, Dana Point – Total: $463,000

• General upgrades: $375,000
• Painting: $88,000

Don Juan Avila, Aliso Viejo – Total: $100,000

• Painting

Niguel Hills Middle, Laguna Niguel – Total: $375,000

• General upgrades

Las Palmas Elementary, San Clemente – Total: $400,000

• General upgrades

The money comes from a variety of sources, including redevelopment agency pass-throughs (which the district still receives despite the dissolution of the agencies), developer fees, money socked away for deferred maintenance, bond money, and in the case of San Clemente High, Mello-Roos taxes from Talega residents.

The board is also expected to discuss strategies for raising the rest of the funds needed for campus repairs. Among the strategies could be passing a bond on residents who don’t live in a Mello-Roos districts, retiring the Mello-Roos districts and doing a district-wide bond (these two would require more analysis), floating a bond based just on the funds expected to flow from Talega Mello-Roos taxpayers to get early access to them and watching Sacramento for a possible new statewide school construction bond measure, according to a presentation the trustees will hear.

The board meets at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the district headquarters, 33122 Valle Road in San Juan Capistrano.

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To see the specific needs in all the schools, check out the following stories:

School needs in Aliso Viejo

School needs in Dana Point and Laguna Niguel

School needs in Ladera Ranch

School needs in Mission Viejo

School needs in Rancho Santa Margarita

School needs in San Clemente

School needs in San Juan Capistrano