Calla High needs at least $13 million to address health, safety and modernization issues.

Not only that, the continuation high school is arguably in the most precarious location of any Manteca Unified School District campus. Many of its classrooms are literally yards away from busy East Highway 120. It also abuts Austin Road that the City of Manteca long-range planning calls for being converted into a major four-lane arterial.

It is also on the edge of the city without sidewalks to reach the campus on foot.

The high cost of modernizing the aging campus that was once an elementary school plus the long-range viability of the location is prompting Manteca Unified to explore alternative sites.

The list so far includes:

*repurposing the former Yosemite School campus npw housing the Manteca Unified Online Academy

 *a new campus on part of the roughly 50 acres on Tinnin Road the district acquired years ago for a potential fourth high school campus within the city limits

*obtaining land elsewhere

Manteca Unified seeks to

maximize available space

Looking at all options is part of a directive handed down by school board. It is being diligently pursued by the district administration to maximize the $260 million bond voters approved in November 2020 as well as other available funding for facilities.

MUSD Community Outreach Director Victoria Brunn noted the district is seeking to maximize existing space as well.

It is what led to the decision to add resource centers to existing elementary campuses.

By building a free-standing resource center or remodeling existing space for pull-out programs such as Reading Recovery, bilingual, intervention, resource, psychologists and others the district can save significant money.

That’s because the pull-out programs — added by state mandate after most campuses were built — have smaller class sizes. They have 50 percent less students than regular classrooms.

By providing “right-sized space” that is designed specifically for the programs co-mingled with support space for staff, it frees up existing classroom space.

That means the district can “add” regular 960-square-foot classrooms designed to accommodate 30 or so students by moving pull-out programs into a resource center learning space that is about 40 percent less space than a classroom.

That translates into roughly the same percentage of cost savings to accommodate additional classroom space to handle growth.

MUSD may centralize

district warehouses

The district is using a similar approach with its warehouse needs.

That is why the district is exploring buying the 57,000-square-foot former Qualex photo processing building at 555 Industrial Park Drive.

The district is in talks with the city’s successor agency to the Manteca Redevelopment Agency that was disbanded in 2010. The successor agency is required to dispose of the property and distribute the proceeds proportionately through local taxing agencies.

The district uses a series of warehouse at its district site and needs more space as Manteca Unified grows.

Under state law, other government agencies have the first right of refusal to acquire surplus RDA property before it is auctioned off.

The sale price, under such circumstances, is determined by a market value appraisal.

The last such appraisal in early 2020 put the market value at $1,125,000.

If that appraisal is still correct today the district could acquire the property for $1,125,000. It would then receive its share of the proceeds which is just under 51 percent. That would make the net cost to the district to purchase the property $563,000.

The structure needs a new roof and has some asbestos issues. But given the space will be used as a warehouse, there is minimal interior work needed.

That means creating a centralized warehouse would be significantly less than starting from scratch.

It also would free up space at the district office complex that has a multitude of uses on the MUSD property at Airport Way and Louise Avenue.

Among the current uses located there besides district administration is fleet maintenance, the be.tech charter high school campus, the school farm, and Manteca Adult School.

The district could potentially shift district corporation yard functions from the former Lindbergh School on North Street to free up that site for other uses.

The 555 Industrial Park Drive property has a large fenced in parking lot that would not be fully utilized by warehouse operations.

The district, if they move forward, would like to take possession of the property as soon as possible.

If they did so in the next few months the district doesn’t believe there will be a need to relocate the city’s temporary homeless center until at least March 2022.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com