Trustees of the Ripon Unified School District recently gave the green light on construction of the new Career Technical Education building at Ripon High.

“This is a piece of Phase 1 from the (Facilities Assessment and Implementation) master plan,” said Superintendent Ziggy Robeson at last Monday’s school board meeting.

At RHS, the CTE program offers a variety of career pathway courses, including ag mechanics, ag science, ag business, plant & soil science, business management, software & systems development and patient care.

The Facilities Assessment and Implementation Plan represents improvements and recommendations developed from an analysis of existing conditions, available funding and desired improvements from the district.

Discussions have been ongoing with RUSD as part of the planning process – priorities have been set according to the outcome of those meetings not to mention input received via community survey.

Construction of the CTE building would free up some classroom space on campus. “We need the space,” Robeson said.

RHS has witnessed steady growth in enrollment despite the COVID-19 pandemic, going from about 900 four years ago to 1,000 – give or take – during this past school year.

The school board gave the staff the direction to provide a timeline and funding for the CTE building at RHS.

The first phase also includes modernizing and upgrading classrooms to a 21st century standard at the kindergarten- through- eighth- grade schools.

The second phase calls for construction of a new K-8 school coupled with high school expansion to meet the new enrollment volume from new housing developments such as the proposed Hat Ranch project within the City of Manteca consisting of about 700 homes.

The third phase will focus on a variety of upgrades to RHS including modernizing and upgrading classrooms, library, and replacing portables with new classrooms, to name a few. Most of the K-8 schools will receive improvements to libraries and science labs