Groundbreaking held for new high school to serve Menifee

Officials from the Perris Union High School District were joined by other dignitaries in Saturday's groundbreaking ceremony. Photo by James Heckman

A cold, rainy morning didn't dampen the enthusiasm under a huge tent on an open field Saturday during groundbreaking ceremonies for Liberty High School.

The new school is located just east of the Menifee border and is part of the Perris Union High School District, which already serves Menifee with Paloma Valley and Heritage high schools. The school, scheduled to open in August 2021, will draw primarily from the southeastern portion of Menifee and will greatly reduce overcrowding at Paloma Valley.

Crews will begin digging on Feb. 21 at the location, which is on the west side of Leon Road at Wickerd Road. The $160 million project will cover 52 acres and will serve approximately 2,600 students. According to the PUHSD website, "a wide range of facilities are planned to include small learning communities, modern classrooms, athletic and art program spaces, career training facilities and the educational technology needed to support high quality instruction in science, technology, engineering, arts, math and skilled trades."

The design of the school is centered around the theme of "applied learning centers", which will offer learning opportunities in specific subjects designed to open career paths to students, said Buddy Gessel, chief architect for BakerNowicki Design Studio.

"The centers of applied learning are integrated into the project to allow the school to feel like a series of small schools within the school," Gessel said. "We'll have everything from business technology to biotechnology to arts, theater and drama and more. They're all in one building, but they will all have their own unique entries and identities."

The school also will have a stadium with artificial turf field; synthetic running track; baseball and softball fields; tennis courts; and a gym in which guests enter on the top floor and descend down to the main floor, as in an arena format. The plan does not include a pool, but space has been designated for a pool to be added later.

Saturday's ceremony included officials from PUHSD as well as the Menifee Union School District, which may one day inherit Liberty High as well as Paloma Valley in a Menifee Unified School District. PUHSD officials have said previously they believe it was necessary to construct the new high school before an equitable division of high schools could be made in order to benefit both school districts.

The plan would leave Heritage High School in PUHSD with Perris High School, while Liberty and Paloma Valley would join a unified Menifee district. The MUSD and its governing board would have to agree to any unification agreement.

"When this board voted to place Measure W on the ballot, we made a commitment that if the voters supported this bond measure, we would build the new high school," said Edward Garcia, president of the PUHSD board. "We have kept that promise. Today we break ground, an important first step toward this goal."

Measure W is a $148 million bond measure passed by voters last November. A little more than half of that amount is needed to provide the remainder of the funding for the new school.

PUHSD documents show that $76.7 million of the $153 million generated from Measure T in 2012 was budgeted for the new high school, and only $2.2 million of that amount has been spent -- that going toward design of the school. According to the PUHSD's accounting for Measure T, $74.5 million remains in the budget for Liberty High School.

At the time Measure T was passed, PUHSD officials expected to receive the remainder of the new high school funding from a state school funding project. When that funding didn't come through, they believed another bond measure was the only way to fund the other half.

In the days after the Nov. 6 election day, Measure W appeared to be short of the 55 percent approval needed. However, once all the mail-in and provisional ballots were counted, Measure W had received 55.89 percent of the vote. That will provide the remaining funds needed for Liberty High School, with most of the rest of the $148 million devoted to renovations for Perris High School.

According to the PUHSD resolution approving the ballot measure, Measure W will cost taxpayers an estimated $30 per $100,000 assessed property value each year.

"We thank the voters for their support of Measure W," said Grant Bennett, superintendent of PUHSD. "We have a wonderful staff who has worked hard to make this happen. To all of you, I say thank you for myself and for the thousands of students who will benefit from Liberty High School."

Menifee mayor Bill Zimmerman spoke about the positive impact the new high school will have on the community.

"I want to thank all the people involved because I know you're doing this with the students in mind, and that's what counts," Zimmerman said. "The school will have a very collegiate feeling; it will be a great thing for all the students here. When people are looking to buy a home and they look here, they always ask, 'How are the schools?' This is something where realtors and builders will be able to tell people, 'We have a wonderful new school here.' "

Editor's note: Candace Reines, deputy superintendent of the Perris Union High School District, will be in the Menifee 24/7 studio Tuesday at 7 p.m. for a Facebook Live broadcast. She will be interviewed by Menifee 24/7 Editor Doug Spoon about the new high school, bond Measure W and related matters. Viewers will have the opportunity to post questions for Candace to answer on the air. Watch our Facebook page that night for the broadcast. This is your opportunity to voice concerns, answer questions and/or express your thanks to PUHSD officials. We thank Candace for agreeing to do this in an effort to promote better understanding of the issues.

Candace Reines, deputy superintendent of PUHSD, addresses the crowd at the start of the ceremony. Photo by James Heckman

Current and former PUHSD superintendents Grant Bennett and Jonathan Greenberg were instrumental in the bond measures. Photo by James Heckman

An aerial view shows the planned layout of the Liberty High School campus.

Here is a video, courtesy of the PUHSD website, that describes the concept behind Liberty High School: