PUSD Has Plenty of Building Projects Going On
BY MATTHEW BRADY mbrady@portervillerecorder.com
More than half a dozen building projects will be well on their way during the 2022-2023 school year for Porterville Unified School District. With new Career and Technical Education agricultural facilities at both Strathmore and Monache High Schools, more than 20 new classrooms (both portable and permanent), concession stands, a courtyard, and even electric vehicle charging stations. PUSD is committed to continuing its ongoing projects for 2022 and beyond.
“There's a lot ongoing for us.” PUSD superintendent Nate Nelson said “We've partnered with a few different companies like Southern California Edison, more than a few construction firms and the like. Thankfully our funding from the school board general fund, the city, state, and federal grants, and the impressive work from our student and adult volunteers has made these awesome projects possible.”
When asked what projects were reaching completion Nelson spoke about Monache as well as smaller scale projects in the community.
“There's quite a few; At Monache we're adding a two story permanent building with 16 new classrooms. All the classrooms don't have specific uses yet, but it will allow us to expand with time and will allow for flexibility for stuff like school clubs and activities. Along with that is the renovation of the Monache CTE Agricultural building. It's been a while since the Ag building at Monache was built; and when talking with school officials, we noted some repairs and expansions we both really wanted to do.”
Nelson also stated the district has a handful of new playgrounds planned at Monte Vista Elementary on West Westfield Avenue, Los Robles Elementary on East Mulberry Avenue, Santa Fe Elementary on East Orange Avenue, and Vandalia Elementary on East College Avenue.
Nelson also spoke about the projects at Strathmore High. “We also have a concessions building at Strathmore that's being finished that will provide a safe and really nice place for the school and students to serve food and drinks. “The Strathmore buildings we still have work on is the CTE agricultural building, that'll be brand new for them. We have another four classrooms and two labs being brought in that'll compliment the new agricultural building. Those will take a bit longer as we're still getting the land set up for them.”
Speaking of the new buildings, Nelson spoke about the EV charging stations at Porterville High. “As I mentioned before, we're working with Southern California Edison on bringing in six stations for the school. We've been working a lot on this one with the help of CAPS or Climate Action Pathways for Schools students.
We're also planning on expanding the EV stations to include more schools. We have another group being installed at Butterfield Charter over on Pioneer Avenue and another at Porterville Military Academy. So there will be quite a few going in, but the first to finish will be Porterville High.”
In addition, Nelson talked about additional projects at Porterville High and West Putnam Elementary School.
“There's also the new courtyard at Porterville High. We've been looking forward to this one for a while. It'll be an open area with an amphitheater for outdoor activities like plays or assemblies, plenty of shade structures, and a better foot traffic route for the school. We're looking to complete the new courtyard some time in 2023.
“Over on West Putnam we're just kicking off the elementary school site. It's also going to include a two story building that will have 12 classrooms available to the school. It's similar to our work at Belleview Elementary, where we'll have both portable structures and permanent ones.”
