A school bond measure passed a few years ago is breaking ground and bringing students and teachers new classrooms, among other things.
The Lucia Mar Unified School District is installing more than 90 new classrooms, HVAC systems, playground and more with funds from Measure J.
The bond measure passed in 2016 and gave the district around $170 million to renovate its 19 campuses.
“New desks, new chairs, new technology, everything in the classroom, almost everything is new,” said Director of Facilities Andy Stenson.
The renovation began with eliminating the oldest portable classrooms first. At Harloe Elementary alone, the district removed 14 portables and replaced them with 15 new classrooms.
"This has been a project that's been ongoing for about four years now. We've had about three different phases of construction,” Stenson said.
There are currently 53 new classrooms district wide with work on more than 40 more underway.
"We have aging facilities, some of our schools were built in the 1950s, 1960s, even have some buildings that date back to the 1940s," Stenson said.
The funding stream is anticipated to last three more years, so the district said the work will wrap up then.
A soccer field and play area will occupy the space at Harloe where the portables used to sit.
