School starts Aug. 4 at East Union High and Manteca High with 49 replacement classrooms built with Measure A school bond proceeds ready for students.

That includes 31 classrooms at EU in the new two-story classroom complex along Union Road that includes a new media center as well.

The new complex replaces portable classrooms at East Union that have been in place more than 30 years.

Manteca High’s two-story classroom building along Mikesell Street will have all but four of the 22 classrooms completed by the time school starts. The remaining four classrooms are likely to be completed in October.

The new Mikesell complex partially replaces classroom wings dating back to the 1940s that are being demolished.

The area of the former classroom wings along Sherman Avenue will be replaced during the next two years with a two-story building with 32 classrooms and media center in a design similar to what has been built at East Union.

Eleven portable classrooms have been relocated temporarily to the Manteca High campus while the Sherman Avenue building is constructed.

The 49 replacement classrooms when coupled with 10 replacement classrooms built three years ago at Manteca High means the district has essentially replaced the equivalent of one high school worth of aging classrooms that had significant upgrade needs and/or were inadequate for today’s educational needs.

New classroom furniture needs for the 49 replacement classrooms is at an absolute minimum as the district used one-time COVID federal funds to fresh furniture at all grade levels with desks and such that are superior in terms of ergonomics and versatility.

Just like the projects being funded with the $260 million Measure A receipts districtwide, replacement furniture was selected to maximize its contribution to a more effect education process.

That sounds like education-speak to justify expenditures beyond the need to replace worn classroom furniture, but as evidenced by purchases in lower elementary grades that is not the case.

Teacher teams evaluated numerous options and selected chairs that have been found to reduce student fidgeting which in turns help youngsters to stay more focused in class.

450 portables when

modernization started

Virtually all of the 450 portables that accounted for a third of the district’s 1,450 classrooms as of November 2020  when Measure A was passed, have been kept in good enough shape by school maintenance crews over the years that were being effectively utilized although they were showing wear, age, and need for modernization.

The district assessed each portable. Those that needed significant work beyond modernization and didn’t pencil out investing money on rehabilitation were targeted to be demolished.

That is what the district did with the portable classroom already at East Union High that for decades served as the weightlifting room for physical education and sports.  

Portable classrooms with 960 square feet as of 2022 cost over $450,000 apiece once the purchase, site work, and delivery costs are added.

 The replacement of a number of the aging portables is being done districtwide using the $260 million bond voters approved in November 2020 is being determined in a methodical manner.

If it is more cost to upgrade portables than replacing them with a traditional “brick and mortar” classroom, a permanent classroom is being built.

Only a handful of the district’s 450 portables are newer than 20 years old — the average life expectancy of such structures. Many are approaching 40 years including all of the classrooms at the Neil Hafley campus that are all portables.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com