Leaders for the Twin Rivers Unified School District have decided to slow down by several years a costly new campus going up in East Natomas.
"We are going to build everything in the plans over time," Alan Colombo, Twin Rivers' assistant superintendent of facilities services, said Wednesday. "We just don't have the money to build it right now."
Trustees for Twin Rivers agreed Tuesday night to build the new school – which eventually will serve nearly 3,000 middle and high school students – in four phases stretching to 2014. Original plans called for the $159 million East Natomas Education Complex to open in two years.
The district's leaders will negotiate the phasing changes with the contractor, McCarthy Building Co., which is working on early stages of the project just north of Del Paso Road. The firm declined through a spokeswoman to comment on contract changes. Colombo said both sides have been talking amicably.
"I'm looking at a junior high and high school in the near future," trustee Cortez Quinn said.
The East Natomas complex has been a tricky chapter in the formation of Twin Rivers.
The new district was created July 1 when four districts merged in northern Sacramento County. One of the four – the Grant Joint Union High School District – was building the new campus when the merger took place.
In the months before the merger, Twin Rivers leaders grew concerned that the East Natomas campus was being built prematurely amid the housing downturn. They predicted the massive building project would have fewer students and a larger uncovered debt load than plans indicated.
In particular, they warned that Twin Rivers' general fund, which covers daily operating costs such as salaries and electric bills, would have to absorb millions in facilities-related costs.
Grant leaders disagreed, saying the school was planned with solid financial and demographic projections.
The new campus was a source of pride for Grant, with plans calling for a 750-seat performing arts theater, stadium, aquatic center and library.
On Wednesday, Twin Rivers Superintendent Frank Porter said slowing construction will protect the district's finances while still delivering the new campus to the Natomas community.
Here is a look at the four-phase plan, which would depend on key conditions being met along the way, such as environmental requirements, water sources and access roads:
Phase 1: Finish grading, planning and environmental work by August 2009.
Phase 2: Open a basic "starter" school serving 800 to 1,000 students by August 2010. The grades to be included are not yet determined.
Phase 3: Finish middle school, a "starter" high school, and library and administration building by August 2012.
Phase 4: Complete high school with athletic facilities and performing arts building by August 2014.
Call The Bee's Deb Kollars, (916) 321-1090.
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