San Mateo-Foster City School Distric revamps make headway

Nearly $500 million worth of projects and immediate priorities have been identified across the district which officials intend to cover through funds from Measure X, approved by voters in 2015, and Measure T, approved in 2020.

A total of $74.2 million in Measure X funds are budgeted to cover seven projects, one of the biggest being a new North Central San Mateo campus that’s currently expected to cost the district about $23 million. Ruffo said staff is continuing to look for additional funding support ahead of the beginning of construction that is slated for 2024.

Amy Ruffo, director of Facilities and Construction, told trustees, “it’s a very exciting time in the construction department,” as many projects enter the design phase, are under construction or have been or are nearing completion.

“As you can see, there’s a lot happening in both design and construction,” Ruffo said.

Teams are expected to break ground on two multipurpose rooms at George Hall and Sunnybrae elementary schools this year, funded by Measure X, with similar projects at Highlands, LEAD and Meadow Heights elementary schools and Parkside Montessori School slated for next year and paid for by Measure T.

Additional projects starting the year include turf field installation at Foster City Elementary School, the development of science and drama rooms at Bowditch Middle School and a shading structure at Borel Middle School.

Measure X funds will also go toward repairing Abbott Middle School’s gym flooring after sustaining flooding damage during the fall.

While progress is being made, recent surges in inflation and supply chain constraints have been top of mind given that time frames for completing many of the multimillion projects extend into 2026, Ruffo said.

“Something that you hear in the news is an escalation in inflation and we’re seeing this tenfold in all of our estimates so we’re working really closely with design teams to keep everything on track,” Ruffo said.

Board President Alison Proctor said she was proud of the work being done on school campuses but shared concerns that the district’s budgeted projects will surpass what’s been approved by voters, potentially “shortchanging” later projects while easier quicker projects are being completed.

In total, the community approved $557 million between the two bond measures which were sold to voters as necessary revenue streams for alleviating crowded campuses and renovating aging district facilities. But projects covered by Measure T are currently over budget by just under $20 million.

“Just because it’s faster to get certain projects done than others doesn’t mean that we should necessarily reduce the budget of those later projects,” Proctor said.

Ruffo said the team is looking into other sources of funding to support some projects while anticipating interest will be applied to the bonds and is working to make sure projects are done in the “right sequence.”

In the future, Trustee Noelia Corzo said she’d like to see the board discuss potential mixed-use staff housing projects. The issue isn’t among the current budgeted list but Chin noted employee housing was referenced in the district’s Facilities Master Plan and shared his own support for pursuing the effort.

Aside from weighing in on the bond update, trustees also addressed criticism that the governing board was neglecting more important conversations around student achievement to tout the development of new facilities by noting the upgrades come as a long-promised benefit.

And Trustee Shara Watkins also argued the district has spent far more time discussing the well-being of students and the greater community these days than it did just a few years ago.

“Some of the things being addressed here are both equity issues and, as was pointed out, health and safety issues,” Trustee Shara Watkins said. “The things that we are talking about are things that are really important.”

sierra@smdailyjournal.com

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