MUSD superintendent: District facilities offer positive learning environment

One of the greatest strengths of the Maricopa Unified School District is we have excellent school buildings and support facilities and virtually all of them are less than 10 years old.

The old gymnasium at Maricopa High School was constructed in 1958 and is still part of the new campus. The “oldest” school we have is Santa Rosa Elementary, and it was built in 2003. Since then we have built eight additional schools, three support buildings and a performing arts center at MHS.

All of this construction was accomplished by the foresight, hard work and dedication of numerous governing board members, former superintendents, administrators, architects, general contractors and construction managers. It takes a well-coordinated team effort to complete this type of project.

Two revenue sources made all of this construction possible.

In November 2006 Maricopa voters approved $56 million in bonds to finance the construction of schools and support facilities. The other revenue source was the state’s School Facilities Board, which provided an additional $127 million.

When the final facility (the maintenance facility) was completed this year, MUSD owned 13 buildings covering 893,000 square feet, valued at $183 million.

One example of foresight in the construction of facilities was the Performing Arts Center at MHS built in 2011. This 750-seat auditorium encourages interest in the arts for students by providing a high-quality facility for performances. It is also a great venue for community use.

Another example of foresight was the construction of a district administration office in 2010. The building has excess capacity. As the school district grows, the administration office will be able to serve the needs of a larger district without needing to expand.