One of several goals for the Ripon Unified School District is to replace portable units with permanent classroom buildings and possibly add another kindergarten-through-eighth-grade campus.

Those plans were mentioned as part of the Facilities Master Plan at the special school board meeting and workshop held on April 20.

Director of Operations Andy Strickland provided the Facilities Assessment and Implementation Plan made possible by CFW Inc.

The proposed facility improvements included recommendations developed from an analysis of existing conditions along with available funding and desired improvements from the school district.

“Discussions with the district have been ongoing as part of the planning process and priorities that have been set according to the outcomes of those meetings and input received through a community survey,” he said.

The proposed projects, based on that, also include:

*Providing 21st century improvements to classrooms with particular focus being that of older classrooms.

*Providing improved facilities to support science education.

*Improving Career & Technical Education facilities to support the requirements of the CTE industry.

* Increasing utility capacity (data, electrical, wiring, etc.) to better serve students.

*Making plans to begin preparing for future growth for the new housing development.

In order to carry out those plans, Strickland mentioned those improvements being conducted in three phases.

Most of the aforementioned modernization and classroom upgrades would be part of the first phase of the plan.

As for funding, RUSD has already benefitted from the state's new construction and modernization grant program, garnering $16 million in grants for both new construction and modernization since 2003, and about $7.1 million in 2019 to complete the efforts at Weston Elementary School.

According to CFW, the local school district currently has an estimated $12.8 million in additional submitted applications awaiting review from the state, and could be eligible for about $6.9 million in modernization grants to go towards funding an estimated $11.5 million in proposed RUSD projects — a local match of about $4.6 million, in this case, would be required.

Additional enrollment growth with the development taking place northwest of Ripon in Manteca — all within RUSD attendance boundaries — could mean another K-8 campus and additional facilities at Ripon High in the future.

That would be part of second phase projects.

The third phase would focus on a variety of upgrades to RHS, including the modernization and upgrades of classrooms and the library, and replacing portables with new classrooms, to name a few.

RUSD will continue to look at potential funding sources at the local and state levels.