When Paso Robles High School opened in 1980, it was built for 800 students. Today, more than 2,000 attend classes on a campus that has struggled to keep up with its growing enrollment.
There’s no indoor cafeteria. The gymnasium can’t accommodate the entire student body, and some career training programs lack the specialized classrooms and equipment needed to prepare students for jobs in growing industries.
Now, Paso Robles voters will decide whether to spend $205 million to bring the district’s aging high school facilities into the 21st century.
Measure G-26 on the Nov. 3 ballot would authorize the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District to issue bonds to renovate classrooms, repair deteriorating infrastructure, and construct new facilities at Paso Robles High School, Liberty Continuation High School and Independence High School.
At the center of the proposal is an effort to expand career technical education (CTE), giving students opportunities to graduate with industry-recognized certifications.
“The focus of this bond in those grades nine through 12 is primarily in support of career technical education,” Superintendent Jennifer Loftus told New Times.
For Loftus, the challenge is ensuring that what students learn inside those renovated buildings reflects the jobs available to them after graduation.
As industries evolve, she said, the district must rethink its career training programs, particularly in fields such as healthcare, advanced manufacturing, and precision welding.
The developing Paso Robles spaceport and surrounding technology corridor, for example, could create opportunities for graduates with specialized manufacturing skills. But the district currently lacks facilities equipped to provide that training.
“We’re looking to build programs in your high school that allow students to walk out of high school the day after graduation with a credential or a certification that an employer recognizes and values in that industry,” Loftus said.
The bond would also address some of the issues of a campus built for fewer students.
At Paso High, students have spent decades eating lunch outdoors, often sitting on curbs or wherever they can find space.
“If it’s raining, if it’s 110, if it’s cold, it doesn’t matter what the weather is. Our students are eating in that weather,” Loftus said.
The district proposes replacing that arrangement with a two-story student commons building that would provide indoor dining, study areas, a larger library, and additional classrooms.
The building could also bring the district’s culinary arts program, currently located across town, onto the main campus, where students could work with agriculture and horticulture programs to prepare farm-to-table meals.
A proposed event center capable of holding up to 2,200 students and staff, would eliminate the need to hold multiple assemblies and pep rallies because the existing gymnasium cannot accommodate everyone at once.
The center would also house healthcare and sports medicine training programs, allowing students to gain practical experience working alongside athletic trainers.
Elsewhere, the district hopes to renovate War Memorial Stadium, built in 1940 and in need of significant accessibility improvements, while expanding classroom space at Liberty and Independence high schools.
The bond would also fund repairs to aging plumbing, electrical systems, bathrooms, and security infrastructure.
If approved, Measure G-26 would levy an estimated $49.59 annually for every $100,000 of assessed property value. For a property assessed at $500,000, that would amount to nearly $248 each year.
Measure G-26 requires approval from at least 55 percent of voters to pass. ∆
This article appears in Pets 2026.
