Remodeling starts at EUSD Kimberly Epler North County Times ENCINITAS - Encinitas Union School District officials celebrated the first phase of Proposition O modernization projects on Monday by swinging gold-colored sledgehammers at the wall of a Paul Ecke Central School classroom. Encinitas voters approved Prop. 0 in March 1996 for facilities improvements and modernization in the elementary school district. The property tax extension netted the 5,000-student district $29.5 million. The Encinitas district has nine campuses in Encinitas and southern Carlsbad. About 50 people packed into one of the first three classrooms being remodeled to watch school board members, superintendent Doug DeVore and his predecessor, former Superintendent Pat White, take ceremonial whacks. Construction on the Encinitas campus also began Monday, filling the air with dust before the brief ceremony began. The district hopes to have the $4.4 million in repair work finished in a year. Encinitas City Council members James Bond and Sheila Cameron joined Lizbeth Ecke, a former student and grand- daughter of the school's name-sake, and other district representatives for the ceremony. Both DeVore and board of trustees President Shannon Kuder made reference to the process of planning projects, gaining state approval and acquiring matching funds for older campuses. The progress of Prop. 0 construction has been a key issue in the race for three open seats on the five-member Encinitas school board. Of the six candidates running for the board, two attended Monday's groundbreaking - incumbent William Parker and parent volunteer Marla Strich, who co-chaired the campaign to get Prop. O passed. "It took a long time to get here," Kuder said, explaining the four-tier state approval process and level of public in- put. "I know we all wish we could have spent the money before.... It's been a long, arduous process and I'm glad to say we're here and we've gotten through it?" Students at Paul Ecke Central will be playing musical classrooms for a year as remodeling of different school buildings is done in phases, said Joe Luna, Quest Construction project superintendent. Luna is also a former student at Paul Ecke Central and attended classes with Lizbeth Ecke in the 1960s. "It was strange, when we got the project, to walk on the grounds he said. "It looks basically unchanged. Of course everything seems a lot smaller." The 60-year-old campus is the first of three schools - including Ocean Knoll and Capri elementary schools - to receive new fire alarms, security and public-address systems and new or repaired drywall and ceilings. Capri is 29 years old and classroom projects are being delayed until 1999 when the school can receive matching state funds. Projects at Ocean Knoll, which is 45 years old, are currently out to bid. Ocean Knoll and Capri will each undergo $3.4 million in repairs. Other schools in the Encinitas district will also see improvements. The district is starting with the oldest and most populated schools. The second phase includes work on Park Dale Lane and Flora Vista elementary schools, Mission Estancia and Pacific View Schools will be addressed in the last phase of construction. |
