CARLSBAD — As Carlsbad Unified School District continues to work on upgrades across multiple campuses, some projects will likely be put on hold due to escalating construction costs.
District staff presented information to the school board during a special workshop on May 1 on the status of various campus renovation and construction projects funded through Measure HH, a $265 million bond measure approved by voters in 2018 to modernize classrooms, science labs and other instructional technology.
Nearly all of the first phase projects are complete, including campus-wide renovations at Magnolia, Hope and Kelly elementary schools; a renovation of the Carlsbad High School science lab and chiller; new fencing and security cameras; solar parking structures and battery storage at select campuses; water efficiency at all campuses; and new STEAM labs at Magnolia, Kelly, Hope, Poinsettia and Pacific Rim elementary schools.
Now in the project’s second phase, design work is underway for renovations at Aviara Oaks Middle School, Carlsbad Village Academy and Pacific Rim Elementary Schools.
According to staff, the plans focused on updating the oldest campuses first and moving on to newer schools down the road – though some newer schools like Pacific Rim and Poinsettia received new STEAM labs alongside some of the older schools.
As work continues on several projects, the board must recommend which projects should be put on hold as construction costs continue to rise.
“Construction cost escalation has eaten into our available bond funds,” said Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Eric Dill.
According to Dill, school construction hard costs have drastically risen since Measure HH was approved six years ago, jumping from $450 per square foot in 2018 to $1,000 per square foot today – and counting.
Due to increased costs, some projects must be put on hold until more funding becomes available.
One of those projects will likely be the Carlsbad High School Cultural Arts Center, first built in 1979.
The plan is to preserve the auditorium and fly tower while demolishing all support spaces and two-story building components, bringing those areas to the ground floor for better stage and auditorium access.
The Cultural Arts Center renovation was projected to cost the district approximately $14 million in 2018, but according to Dill, that cost has likely doubled.
“This would be well over $30 million,” Dill said.
Dill said the district has already invested significant amounts of money for campus-wide renovations at Carlsbad High.
Trustee Ray Pearson was the first board member to suggest putting that project on hold for now.
“I’m very reluctantly going along with that,” said Trustee Elisa Williamson.
The school board also agreed to pull the remaining $87 million in funds from the bond all at once to use before summer 2025 to focus on replacing portable classrooms with permanent structures on campuses.
Additionally, the school board gave staff the green light to gather public input on existing design concepts for Aviara Oaks Middle School and Pacific Rim Elementary School.
Since 1999, Aviara Oaks Middle and Aviara Oaks Elementary schools have shared a campus. The district plans to move the administrative and nursing offices out of the current building into a new two-story building closer to the middle school’s entrance.
The building would include science labs and classrooms on the second floor. The existing administrative offices would be converted into a staff work room and lounge, which the campus currently lacks.
“We have counselors currently in portable classrooms so we would be replacing those with a permanent building anyway,” Dill said. “What else can we bring in there?”
Dill said moving the nurse’s office closer to the main entrance would make it easier for parents to pick up their sick children rather than traveling to the center of campus where the nurse’s office is currently located.
“It would make more sense to have that right off the front of the school and near to the principal and assistant principal as well,” Dill said.
The plans also consider fixing both Aviara Oaks schools’ traffic patterns by separating the parking lots and creating one-way in-and-out lanes for the elementary side on the southern part of Ambrosia Lane and the same for the middle school side on the northern part. Staff is also considering installing a roundabout on site to further help the traffic flow and a separate lane for e-bikes entering and exiting campus.
At Pacific Rim, the current idea is to build an eight-classroom building with a separate building for children’s care and music classes. The children’s care building would be closer to the entrance to make it easier for parents to pick up their children.
