As school bond funds start to dwindle, the Paso Robles school board is navigating how to support a new transitional kindergarten (TK) program and facility enhancements at Georgia Brown Dual Immersion School.
At its Jan. 14 meeting, the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District (PRJUSD) board of trustees was asked to approve the final phase of improvements for Georgia Brown. With a focus on prioritizing a new TK program on campus then allocating the rest to enhance the school’s science labs and improve ADA accessibility, staff asked the board for $6 million.
With only $10.8 million left from Measure M—a $95 million school bond passed by voters in 2016 intended to enhance school facilities and build a new aquatic center—board members said it was too big of a decision to make so suddenly.
Assistant Superintendent Brad Pawlowski explained to the board that the district wants to implement three new TK classes on the Georgia Brown campus for 60 4-year-old students. According to Pawlowski, the new students would generate more than $800,000 in state funding that would support additional staffing for students.
“As we look at the uniqueness of the dual immersion program, it is a language acquisition program. So, including native speakers is critical as part of this process and so really allowing us to expand an opportunity for some of our most at-risk learners is an excellent thing for us to do,” Pawlowski said.
To allow designers to continue with the new proposed design of the campus, which included creating a specific wing for TK and kindergarten, Pawlowski urged the board to approve the maximum budget so they could start making recommendations and have the project completed by August 2026.
Board member Joel Peterson said that the TK program was sprung on the board on Dec. 17, and that staff only gave them a month to decide how to spend the money that the district has left.
“I feel like I’m being shamed here for not making a decision, that we haven’t had a lot of time to think about,” Peterson told staff. “And so, you can lay off a little bit of the guilt in making a decision tonight when it’s like, this came to us last meeting.”
Board member Kenney Enney asked whether the district was prioritizing the TK program over science, but Superintendent Jennifer Loftus said that wasn’t the case.
“Science is important, nobody wants to shortchange the science program. … We want to make sure the lab is top notch,” Loftus said. “We aren’t trying to sacrifice; we are trying to meet the needs of all, it’s just a different perspective.”
With state regulations surrounding dual immersion programs, Loftus said that the district would have to comply and having a TK program on campus would better benefit the school’s population of students—where more than half are native Spanish-speakers.
“All of these things mean it’s not an option for us to really debate, it’s more or less how are we going to make that happen for those students who want it who are 4 years old and are eligible for it,” Loftus said. “I know this community advocated very fiercely to have a program that had the full continuum on one site because that’s what’s best for that community of learners.”
After some deliberation and discussion of concerns about the school’s parking lot and restroom facilities, the board unanimously approved the $6 million maximum budget with the condition that in one month it will revisit more detailed plans of the project before it can proceed. Δ
This article appears in Jan 23 – Feb 2, 2025.