Trending

Advertisement

#10 — Design 39 Campus: a name, a funding plan and more

Share

By Emily Sorensen

The Poway Unified School District’s newest (and possibly last) school, the K-8 school known as Design 39 Campus, went from a dream to a solid reality in 2013.

The school, located in Del Sur next to Del Norte High School, is PUSD’s only K-8 school. Currently being constructed, Design 39 Campus is scheduled to be opened in August 2014. At 22 acres, the school is being built to accommodate 1,500 students with around 1,000 of them being kindergartners through fifth-graders and around 500 being sixth- through eighth-graders.

The district began looking at funding plans for the school in February, a process that will continue into the new year, with a final funding plan up for board approval at the January 2014 board meeting.

The board was presented with four funding plans at the February board meeting. While $15 million of the estimated $81.5 million budget necessary for developing, designing and constructing the campus had already been financed, covering the site and the design of the campus, the remaining $66 million, $56 million of which is construction costs, needed a plan for funding.

Of the $66 million, $28.5 million was to be covered by existing cash available balances from Community Fund District (CFD) taxes, otherwise known as Mello-Roos, and a further $16 million will come from future estimated CFD bond project funds.

The board chose to pursue more research into an option that would issue $31.2 million in bonds and/or certificates, at a fixed interest rate for 30 years. These bonds would not be capital appreciation bonds, and would have a 10-year call feature to allow for refinancing. They would be paid back using future CFD tax funds.

Campus construction began in March, with a number of school district officials, including Supt. John Collins and Sonya Wrisley, the principal of Design 39 Campus, attending the groundbreaking ceremony on May 9.

At the April school board meeting, a financial plan for up to but not exceeding $20.5 million in bonds was approved to finance the remaining portion of Design 39 Campus, called the 2013 Special Tax Revenue Bonds, Series B.

In June, the school finally received its official name. Up until now, the campus had only been referred to as “School 39,” reflecting its status as the district’s 39th school. At the June board meeting, the team responsible for brainstorming campus names announced their choices, of which “Design 39 Campus” was the winner. The team included principal Sonya Wrisley and her future teaching team, as well as input from district staff.

The other final choice suggested was the more mainstream Camino Ridge Elementary. Other names considered were Design for Learning and Camino Ridge Design Campus. The tagline Wrisley presented for their name choice was “the future is a place we create.”

The choice of campus rather than school was deliberate. “School is a finite place,” said Wrisley. “We want [Design 39 Campus] to be a learning experience, not a learning environment.”

After some debate, the board voted yes on naming School 39 “Design 39 Campus.” Board member Kimberley Beatty was the only member to vote no, after her motion to delay the vote wasn’t passed. Beatty said she was worried the name would stand out too much, and that it didn’t signify equity and sameness.

August brought Design 39 back to the forefront with a suggested alternative funding plan that would change the obligated repayment source from the general fund to un-allocated Community Facilities District (CFD) annual special taxes, also known as Mello-Roos, from CFDs 2, 4, 8B, 10, 12, 13 and 14. The permanent repayment source will remain from the CFD 15, East Del Sur, special tax reserves.

This alternative plan would also bring in a bond insurer, which would increase the bond’s credit rating and make it easier to sell the bonds. The alternative plan, which would fund for $31.2 million, was voted in unanimously.

A final funding plan was brought to the board for discussion at the December board meeting, but will not be voted on until January. The final plan, which will fund for $31.5 million, includes bond insurance from Build America Mutual, which raises the bond’s credit rating from a BBB- to a AA, and includes a 10-year optional call feature for refinancing.

Advertisement