San Bruno school campus sold

Officials will use the sales money in tandem with the $79 million raised by a recently-approved bond measure to finance reconstruction and modernization of the district’s aging facilities.

Superintendent Stella Kemp lauded the property sale as a key piece of a larger vision for the district.

“I’m very excited that the plans we have worked on for the last 18 months are beginning to arrive,” she said. “These plans are starting to come into action.”

Under the approval, district officials will work alongside representatives from the private school to finalize the deal which Kemp expects could be completed by the coming summer.

Stratford School also leases the former Crestmoor Elementary School campus from the district. With the private institution’s plan to expand, the Stratford School will keep its first- through fifth-grade students at the existing campus and the preschool and kindergarten classes will move to El Crystal.

Stratford School’s sound reputation with the San Bruno community contributed to the board’s comfort with the proposed deal, said board President Kevin Martinez in a prepared statement.

“The board believes this decision is a win-win,” he said.

Kemp also noted Stratford School’s bid for the land was the highest among the multiple offers received. No interest in the land was expressed by a county or municipal agency, which would have granted the public organization priority in negotiations.

El Crystal Elementary School was closed after the last school year, as part of a pivot by officials away from a system built around neighborhood schools to a regional one with larger campuses.

Officials are hopeful the transformation will free the district from the budget constraints which have hamstrung operations for an extended stint.

The revenue generated will help pay toward the rebuild of existing facilities which need to be revamped and improved to accommodate more students, as it can only pay toward facility needs and not operations, said Kemp.

The El Crystal Elementary School site is not the only property on the sales block, as officials agreed earlier this year Rollingwood Elementary School would also be shuttered and sold. The timeline for the campus is yet to be determined though.

Kemp noted officials are also in the process of considering selling district land currently used by VB Golf, and the board approved at the most recent meeting amending terms of an existing lease to allow for early termination in case it is acquired.

Beyond the property sales, officials at the meeting approved a first round of bond sales which, following an exhaustion of all phases, will lead to generation of roughly $79 million to be used for capital projects too, said Kemp.

Yet with the variety of steps taken to improve the district’s financial standing, Kemp said only about $92 million has been collected of the estimated $200 million identified in a facilities master plan.

In tandem with money collected through grants or from a state school facilities bond, Kemp is optimistic the entire project budget can be gathered in due time. And with the latest piece of the financial puzzle attained, Kemp celebrated the property sale as a victory.

“It’s an exciting time for the community and for the district,” she said.

In other business at the meeting, Martinez was named board president and Andrew Mason was named vice president in the annual reorganization, while newcomer Teri Chavez was sworn into office. Former president Jennifer Blanco is again a board member at-large.

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