MUSD to revisit 2nd high school concept

Another look at the phased plans for a second high school is on the agenda for this week’s meeting of the Maricopa Unified School District Governing Board.

The plans start with a bare-bones first phase, known as the School Facilities Board phase. It does not come with carpet, paint, technology or shade. The SFB has given the district $26 million.

The presentation on possible construction of a second high school was part of a May 27 meeting in which failed technology thwarted the public’s attempts to watch remotely. The district had asked the public to tune it to its YouTube channel but was unable to upload live video coverage of the meeting.

Questions arose during that meeting, such as the time limit of the SFB funding and monetary limit of the Adjacent Ways funding for offsite improvements, that administrators said they would bring back to the board. The selected property is on the southwest corner of Murphy and Farrell roads.

The Wednesday meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. The public is again encouraged to watch via YouTube.

With concrete floors and drywall, the extremely limited SFB facility outlined by Finance Director Jacob Harmon and Facility Management Group partner Mark Rafferty reflected the cautionary description on the 2019 bond issue that was rejected by voters.

“As a community member, why would I want to send my kid there? It’s gonna be gross,” board member Torri Anderson said at the earlier meeting. “What we’re doing with $18 million is nothing. There’s nothing, and offsite costs are going to be pretty high.”

The basic high school building is two stories, with an estimated guaranteed maximum price of $18.6 million. Another $10.3 million for a supplemental package includes items integral to the construction of the school, Rafferty said.

“Some of those things would want to happen at the same time as the original construction,” he said.

That includes interiors, structure, technology, site improvements and a shell building. The site plan includes an outdoor basketball court and unshaded dining area.

Lopeman said the school has the ability to purchase a shade cover for the dining area, estimated to cost more than $500,000, but Board President AnnaMarie Knorr had a caveat for that assertion.

“Dr. Lopeman can answer those questions with the reality of today, but we don’t know what the reality of tomorrow is and what the state budget is going to look like after this pandemic,” she said.

A second supplemental package involves a playing field, administration building, media center and site improvements for $8.1 million.

During the earlier meeting, Anderson encouraged the pubic to email the board and Superintendent Tracey Lopeman with their questions about the project. Anderson said repeatedly she has a “huge concern” about the plans.

“I’m extremely concerned with the location, with all of it,” she said. “I just think that there’s a lot of problems that are going to come with this.”

Anderson was not part of the initial discussions on land use because she recused herself from conversations on buying the property due to family ties. She warned staff there were no water/sewer “tie ins” on the property for Global Water.

She said she wanted to know if the district had time to hold off a year and try for another bond election to help pay for a nicer facility.

If completely built out, the school would need an estimated $17 million for football, baseball, track, softball, basketball, grandstands and practice fields. Phase 2 alone has an estimated cost of $33 million for student parking, traffic gates, second two-story classroom building, music/band building and related site improvements.