Riverside Unified School District (RUSD) has completed almost half of the 48 districtwide maintenance projects slated for completion between 2024 and 2026.
That’s according to a report shown at Thursday night’s board meeting highlighting the finished upgrades and upcoming repairs across several of RUSD’s campuses.
“I’ve been with the district for 29 years and, [in] all of those years, we’ve done maybe three [or] four projects [per year] and we were very proud of that,” Reggie Royster, the district’s director of maintenance, operations and transportation told the board at the November 6 meeting. “[But] 21 projects in a year, that is incredible.”
Samuel Precie, the district’s executive director for maintenance, operations and transportation, told the board that the district previously allocated $25 million for maintenance projects such as installing new heating and cooling systems, repairing roofs and upgrading facilities.
In the past year, his team has spent almost $11 million to upgrade several playgrounds, repair the roof of Arlington High School’s library and upgrade gym bleachers at Martin Luther King High School, among other projects.
The remaining $14 million, he said, would be used on the 13 projects currently in progress and 14 others slated to start in the winter.
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These types of repairs and upgrades, Precie said, were integral for the district to invest in, with studies showing the impact maintained learning environments can have on student achievement.
“Even a couple of degree difference, or being able to see outside or the light intensity within a classroom, can change the students behavior and their involvement into the instruction,” Precie said. “That all ties into better improvement.”
Many of the trustees were enthusiastic with the work that had been completed. Board President Brent Lee said he felt the repairs showed the community that the district and city were invested in public education.
“It’s what our kids deserve. It’s what our staff deserves,” Lee said. “I think it’s what our community deserves.”
But those repairs were a drop in the bucket, according to district staff who said it would cost nearly $300 million to complete all outstanding maintenance projects across its campuses, including carpet replacement, roofing repairs and HVAC upgrades.
Earlier in the same meeting, the board unanimously approved the Long Range Facilities Plan, which sets priorities for upcoming maintenance and renovation projects over the next 10 to 15 years. Trustee Dale Kinnear was absent.
The roadmap includes recommendations such as replacing portable classrooms with permanent structures and upgrading electrical systems at the schools.
The board also unanimously approved a 29% repair cost increase for Arlington High School’s gymnasium floor, for a total of $84,100. The cost increase was due to damage found during routine maintenance that needed to be addressed.
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