State funding brings a new 'pool' of money to Menifee

Construction has begun on Liberty High School, which will now be more easily funded. Menifee 24/7 photo by Doug Spoon

By Doug Spoon, Editor

The long-awaited matching funds from the State of California for construction of Liberty High School has finally been committed to the Perris Union High School District, a district official said last week.

Candace Reines, deputy superintendent of PUHSD, said the approximately $60 million the district will receive will pay for the balance of construction of Liberty High, which will open in August 2021 on Leon Road east of Menifee. That is good news for PUHSD officials.

It’s also good news for high school students in Menifee. Reines said that the state funding for Liberty High will free up other bond money that was scheduled to be used on Liberty because the state matching funds hadn’t arrived. Now that the guarantee of matching funds has been given, PUHSD can use the other funds for the next highest priority projects on its list.

Those projects include 33-meter swimming pools for Paloma Valley High, Heritage High and Liberty High. Construction of a pool was already budgeted for Perris High. So it appears that PUHSD will go from zero on-campus pools to four – three of them serving Menifee students.

“Now that we’re getting the state money … when we take what’s remaining of the Menifee portion of Measure T and the Menifee portion of Measure W, those funds are more flexible and can be used for these projects,” Reines said, referring to the last two bond measures passed to support PUHSD schools.

Measure T, passed in 2012, generated $153 million in bond revenue and was designated for an even split between Perris and Menifee schools. Measure W, passed in 2018, generated an additional $148 million, with half of that designated for Liberty High construction.

PUHSD Superintendent Grant Bennett expressed his pleasure in announcing the additional priority projects for the Menifee schools.

“We’re making good on our promise from 2012,” he said.

A swimming pool has been in Paloma Valley’s general plan since 1995, when the school opened. Residents have long complained that PUHSD has broken promises in failing to build the pool. In a 2009 Menifee 24/7 news article, then-editor Steve Johnson wrote that the builder of Countryside Marketplace made a presentation about the new shopping center in Sun City, adding that an aquatic center would be built on the southwest corner of Newport Road and Haun Road, where Town Center Marketplace now stands.

But the only competitive swimming pool built in the area in recent years was constructed as part of Drop Zone Water Park in Perris. That led to the creation of swimming and water polo teams at Paloma Valley and Heritage, which have competed there since 2014.

Heritage High School swimmers held their first practice in the Drop Zone pool in 2014.

Soon, sharing a venue will no longer be a problem. Reines said the state funds might not arrive until the fall, but district officials have been planning ahead for the pool projects.

According to Reines, the Paloma Valley pool will be built behind the gym, where it was originally planned for. It will be conveniently located adjacent to the locker rooms. In addition, a multi-purpose room will be built on campus and the administration office will be moved from the center of campus to the location where a county library is now.

At Heritage, the pool will be built on the outside edge of the campus, near the football stadium. Team rooms will be built there as well. And a swimming pool was already part of the planned athletic complex at Liberty High, although it was expected to be added in a later phase until this latest development.

So how was all this really made possible? Wasn’t it previously reported that PUHSD was way down the priority list for the matching funds under former Governor Jerry Brown?

“A new governor, basically,” Reines said, referring to a re-prioritized state education budget under Gavin Newsom. “We were always on the list. But a year ago, we were about $1.9 billion down the list. When the new governor took office, they announced they were going to issue bonds totaling about $1.5 billion. I thought, ‘OK, maybe not this time, but it’s looking good. ‘ It would be the icing on the cake if we got it.

“I said there was still a possibility we could get funded during that first round. I know it seemed grim, but if some of those school districts either didn’t have all their ducks in a row or they had already completed the projects locally, we could move up the list. As it happened, either or both of those things took place.”