Somerton High plans move apace
Design for new school 50% complete; district awaits state’s 40-day enrollment count to determine funding status
The programming design plan for the future Somerton High School is 50% complete, according to a presentation delivered Wednesday during the Yuma Union High School District governing board’s September meeting.
“Despite all of the antics that are going on around us with COVID-19, etc., the work has continued on Somerton High School,” YUHSD Superintendent Gina Thompson said. “We anticipate a good outcome at the end of the year. Our numbers are holding strong as far as student counts (go). The work for us in planning the new Somerton High School has never stopped.”
The conceptual design was first presented to the district governing board for approval in June. In the following months, architects, designers and project coordinators with Arcadis and DLR Group have “planned, explored and conceptualized,” garnering feedback from prospective students and teachers.
The project is set to go before the Somerton City Council on Tuesday. From there, the district will await the Arizona School Facilities Board (SFB)’s 40-day enrollment count Oct. 1 and its ensuing recommendation Dec. 9, which will drive the recommendation for legislative approval and the amount of state funding appropriated in fiscal year 2021.
Last year’s 40-day count offset the district’s initial goal to attain state funding in 2020 in order to have the high school ready to open by 2022, as the data collected by SFB indicated the district’s annualized growth rate of student enrollment only increased by 1%. That meant the district was not yet operating over capacity.
A 2015 Yuma County voter-approved bond allocated $20 million for the project; however, the completion of Somerton High School hinges upon funding from the state, which will not be determined until, at the earliest, December.
“If the funding lines up and we stay on schedule, you’ll have the school open in three years,” Arcadis Principal Project Director Bill Lukehart said.
According to Lukehart’s presentation to the governing board in June, upon attaining state funding for the high school, YUHSD will need to establish an intergovernmental agreement with the City of Somerton to address synergies like the sharing of athletic fields, stormwater management, lighting and parking.
The district and city will also need to establish an infrastructure development agreement, which will outline the City of Somerton’s requirements for obtaining a building permit and, in turn, what YUHSD is required to provide in order to secure that permit and begin the project.
The draft campus plan for Somerton High School, to be built on the corner of Jefferson Street and Cesar Chavez Drive, affords “a number of classrooms” for both general as well as career and technical education classes, a performing arts center, a gymnasium, athletic fields, administrative offices, a cafe space and courtyard, a parking lot for students and a parking lot for staff and visitors, as well as room for future overflow parking.
The plan also features three different points of access to campus – one for student traffic, one for parent traffic and one for bus traffic.
“We anticipate a good outcome at the end of the year. Our numbers are holding strong as far as student counts (go). The work for us in planning the new Somerton High School has never stopped.”
Gina Thompson, Yuma Union High School District superintendent
According to Thompson, equity and community need are two of the driving factors of the project.
“The mantra of Yuma Union High School District is ‘ every (student)’ and that is about equity,” she said. “When we talk about equity, it’s equity in programming in this particular case, and students in Somerton will come to school knowing that they will have not only unique programs that are driven by their desires and the needs of the community, but that it will be equitable in scope. That’s where we continue to go back to ... how important funding is – full funding – before we begin a project, because nothing would be worse than starting a school and never being able to complete it and have students in it because we don’t have all of the programming. That is a huge piece and why we continue to drive for full funding from SFB.”
The full presentation and draft campus plan can be viewed in the video titled “YUHSD September 2020 Board Meeting,” accessible at facebook.com/ YUHSD70.