OCEANSIDE — The Oceanside Unified School District is directing an additional $8.1 million in school facility bond funds to modernize the Pablo Tac School of the Arts.
School board members unanimously approved the extra funding after district staff’s recommendations at the April 18 board meeting.
Although the bidding and procurement process for the school’s modernization project has already concluded, the escalation of materials and labor costs drove bid proposals to be higher than previously budgeted.
In the spring of last year, the district broke ground on construction of the new school facility, which merged San Luis Rey and Garrison elementary schools two years ago following Garrison’s closure after sinkholes were found on campus.
The new Pablo Tac School of the Arts is located on the campus formerly known as San Luis Rey Elementary.
The modernization project is funded by Proposition H, a bond measure approved by Oceanside voters in June 2008. The measure authorizes the school district to issue up to $195 million in general obligation bonds for school facility improvements.
In April 2020, the district authorized up to $25 million in Proposition H funds for the project. The additional $8.1 million will come from the bond measure, ESSER III, and the general fund.
“The new price tag is $33 million,” said OUSD Communications Director Donald Bendz via email.
In 2021, the school board voted to rename the school after Pablo Tac, a Luiseño or Payómkawichum (People of the West) indigenous scholar whose writings were a primary source of the Luiseno language and culture up until the 20th century.
Tac was born on Jan. 15, 1822, at Mission San Luis Rey in present-day Oceanside. He described life as a Mission Indian, created a dictionary of his people’s language and wrote about the lives and experiences of native people in Southern California while studying for the Catholic priesthood in Rome. Tac was the first Luiseño to attend college.
“His contribution for preserving language and the translation of his native language fits in really well with the idea that language is a big piece of the programming,” said former Trustee Eric Joyce when the board voted to approve the name change in June 2021.
The board did not hold any discussion when approving the additional $8.1 million in funds for the modernization project on April 18.
The plan is to build a new administration building with a health office and conference room, a new stage with expanded entry and exit points and height, 14 new modular classrooms including space for Transitional Kindergarten, several outdoor additions including a shaded eating area, gathering space and learning spaces, and unique community access to school fields.
Construction began last year and is expected to finish in the fall of 2025.
