Bonds fund Imperial school projects
IMPERIAL — A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Friday for the new $1.8 million all-weather track at Imperial High School, one of several finished and pending projects made possible with Measure O funds.
To date, the Imperial Unified School District has spent about $12 million of the up to $40 million in bonds made available by the measure’s approval in 2016.
The district still has about $21.8 million left for pending projects and has the potential to sell an additional $6 million in Measure O bonds, said IUSD Superintendent Bryan Thomason.
The high school track project was made possible with input from various high school staff and coaches, district board members, administrators, and maintenance and operations personnel, and is expected to be enjoyed by future generations of Imperial students for years to come, Thomason said.
Similarly, the community’s input was sought as part of the district’s largest Measure O project: construction, currently underway, of the $34 million Imperial Cross Elementary at Cross Road and Fonzie Avenue.
Both the name of the campus and its mascot, the Cubs, were determined in a two-month selection process that invited the district’s campuses and residents to submit suggestions. These were then narrowed down by district personnel and forwarded to IUSD board members for a final selection, Thomason said.
The new campus is the third one the district has built in the last 20 years. It will consist of seven buildings, housing 34 classrooms and totaling more than 68,000 square feet.
Once it is opened in August 2019, the Imperial Cross campus will also have the capacity to accommodate 750 students, which will help relieve the congestion at Ben Hulse and T.L. Waggoner Elementary schools, Thomason said.
About $372,000 in Measure O funds were also used to make improvements to the Frank Wright Middle School field that will help reduce the amount of alkali found there, which impeded proper grass growth. That project involved the installation of leach lines and a refurbished pump system, Thomason said.
Another $72,000 in bond proceeds was spent to remodel the middle school’s gymnasium’s floor during the past winter break. Additional campus improvements include the installation of four portable classrooms and two restroom facilities whose approximate cost of $750,000 had come from developer fees, Thomason said.
Lastly, district officials have also installed new security fencing and a key-card system for safety at Ben Hulse Elementary School. The key-card system is on track to be implemented at Imperial Cross as well, before being rolled out to the district’s remaining sites, Thomason said.