Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
As Fresno Puts Brakes on SE Development, Clovis Unified Proceeds with New Ed Center
NANCY WEBSITE HEADSHOT 1
By Nancy Price, Multimedia Journalist
Published 2 years ago on
February 3, 2023

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The city of Fresno reportedly has put the brakes on expansive growth in the southeast region of the city that has been on the drawing board for nearly two decades.

The South East Development Area plan would add a whopping 45,000 housing units across 9,000 acres upon completion. But Clovis Unified officials told the School Board at a workshop Wednesday that they’ve been advised SEDA’s development has been moved to the back burner.

Fresno officials did not respond Friday morning to requests for comment about SEDA, which has been criticized as an example of municipal sprawl.

In Wednesday’s board presentation, school district officials noted that SEDA’s biggest hurdle is wastewater infrastructure, but other concerns include restrictions related to vehicle miles traveled, or VMT, aimed at reducing greenhouse emissions and traffic impact mitigations.

Even though SEDA expansion will be delayed, Clovis Unified is proceeding with a new educational center on Highland Avenue north of McKinley Avenue that’s needed because schools in the eastern portion of the district are growing more and more crowded.

The Terry Bradley Educational Center is slated for an unincorporated part of Fresno County that the city of Fresno has proposed for its South East Development Area, which has been delayed. (GVWire)

The school board agreed by consensus at the workshop to proceed with construction plans as well as hiring an assistant superintendent to oversee campuses in the area surrounding the future Terry Bradley Educational Center.

District officials held the workshop in part to make it clear to the board and the community that construction of the Bradley center was not contingent on new home construction in SEDA but is needed to address overcrowding that will continue to worsen until new facilities are built.

The Reagan Educational Center in the Clovis East area is already experiencing overcrowding problems that are expected to intensify.

“You’re going to hear as board members in the community, ‘SEDA is not developing, why are you building a school out there?’ What we wanted you to hear us say is we know even if SEDA completely halts for the next 10 to 15 years, we have a need for this campus in this part of town,” said Denver Stairs, Clovis Unified’s assistant superintendent of facilities.

Soaring Costs

The board also learned at the workshop that plans for the Bradley center are being scaled back because of skyrocketing construction costs. The original estimated budget of $250 million for the campus, which will hold a high school, middle school, and elementary school, plus an events center that will be available for district and community use, had grown to $300 million.

But in just a few years, cost estimates for the proposed designs have climbed to $397 million. “Roughly $550 a square foot is what it’s costing us right now to build, which is crazy,” Stairs said.

So district planners have been engaged in “what we call the value engineering process, which is just a fancy way to say we’re cutting money,” he said.

Those cuts include delaying the construction of two buildings, Q and R, that are part of the high school campus, as well as playing fields and a parking lot in the southwest portion of the campus and using less concrete in areas such as sports fields whenever possible, Stairs said.

The Terry Bradley Educational Center map includes portions (outlined in red) that are being delayed due to higher construction costs. The portions in gray are the elementary school and events center in a later phase. (GV Wire Composite/Paul Marshall)

The cost of those two buildings was estimated to total $47 million, district spokeswoman Kelly Avants said.

There would still be enough classroom space for the incoming ninth-grade class as well as the seventh and eighth-graders when the campus opens in August 2025, Stairs said. The district forecasts that the school will open with a total of 1,200 students, or 400 in each of the three initial grade levels.

The high school would grow by one grade level over each of the following three years.

The two buildings would be added in later years to accommodate the growing number of high schoolers.

Avants said that building the campus in phases makes more sense than having unused buildings. The district built a second floor to Clovis North that initially remained vacant, and by the time classes moved in school officials discovered items in need of fixes that were no longer covered by construction warranties, she said.

No Area Infrastructure

Because the Bradley center will be constructed ahead of SEDA, there won’t be municipal water and sewer infrastructure in place. The district is planning to draw its water from four on-site wells and also build or lease a wastewater “package” plant, Avants said. It’s not the first such arrangement for a school: Clovis used site wells at schools previously but will be opting for the first time to use a package plant, she said. But the district will be following the lead of the Riverstone development in Madera County.

Once the SEDA infrastructure is in place, the Bradley center will be able to connect to it, she said.

Local funding for the Bradley center is coming through the Measure A bond measure that voters approved in 2020.

The School Board voted later Wednesday at its board meeting to approve nearly $4.7 million in construction costs for phase 1A of the project, which is being built under a lease-leaseback contract with Harris Construction.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Looking for New Ways to Celebrate Mother’s and Father’s Days in Fresno?

DON'T MISS

A Tidal Wave of Change Is Headed for the U.S. Economy

DON'T MISS

‘Do Not Mock Us’: Trump’s AI Pope Photo Draws Backlash from Catholic Leaders

DON'T MISS

Warren Buffett Shocks Shareholders by Announcing His Intention to Retire at the End of the Year

DON'T MISS

Don’t Have a REAL ID Yet? That Could Cause You Travel Headaches After May 7

DON'T MISS

Grand Theft Auto VI Delayed Again, This Time Until May 2026

DON'T MISS

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese Wins a Second 3-Year Term

DON'T MISS

Justice Department Will Switch Its Focus on Voting and Prioritize Trump’s Elections Order

DON'T MISS

Newsom Jabs at Trump and Musk, but Will AI Make California More Efficient?

DON'T MISS

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Trial to Delve Into the Seediest Side of Rap’s ‘Bad Boy’

UP NEXT

Fresno State Announces 2025 Undergraduate Deans’ Medalists

UP NEXT

Fresno Unified’s New Supe Makes 500% More Than a New Teacher

UP NEXT

Trump Says Harvard University’s Tax-Exempt Status Will Be Revoked

UP NEXT

California Teachers Association Organizes Statewide Protest Against Trump Administration

UP NEXT

Trump Admin Cuts $1 Billion in School Mental Health Grants, Citing Conflict of Priorities

UP NEXT

Why Is Misty Her Getting a Big Pay Bump as Fresno Unified’s New Superintendent?

UP NEXT

Wired Wednesday — FUSD Facing Four Lawsuits Including Nepotism and Incompetence

UP NEXT

Fresno Unified Board May Vote to Hand More Control to Superintendent

UP NEXT

Fresno Unified’s New Supe Allegedly Helped Promote Her Cousin. 4 Lawsuits Claim Nepotism, Incompetence

UP NEXT

California Senator Will Make Historic Appearance at Fresno City College Commencement

Nancy Price,
Multimedia Journalist
Nancy Price is a multimedia journalist for GV Wire. A longtime reporter and editor who has worked for newspapers in California, Florida, Alaska, Illinois and Kansas, Nancy joined GV Wire in July 2019. She previously worked as an assistant metro editor for 13 years at The Fresno Bee. Nancy earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. Her hobbies include singing with the Fresno Master Chorale and volunteering with Fresno Filmworks. You can reach Nancy at 559-492-4087 or Send an Email

Warren Buffett Shocks Shareholders by Announcing His Intention to Retire at the End of the Year

22 hours ago

Don’t Have a REAL ID Yet? That Could Cause You Travel Headaches After May 7

22 hours ago

Grand Theft Auto VI Delayed Again, This Time Until May 2026

23 hours ago

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese Wins a Second 3-Year Term

23 hours ago

Justice Department Will Switch Its Focus on Voting and Prioritize Trump’s Elections Order

23 hours ago

Newsom Jabs at Trump and Musk, but Will AI Make California More Efficient?

1 day ago

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Trial to Delve Into the Seediest Side of Rap’s ‘Bad Boy’

1 day ago

Robbie Ray’s Gem Leads the Giants Over the Rockies

1 day ago

Voters to Decide if Home of Elon Musk’s SpaceX Should Become an Official City: Starbase

1 day ago

World’s Tallest and Smallest Dogs Meet Up for a Playdate

1 day ago

Looking for New Ways to Celebrate Mother’s and Father’s Days in Fresno?

Fresno City and County Historical Society is hosting two celebrations for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. A Mother’s Day Tea Party invites gu...

2 hours ago

2 hours ago

Looking for New Ways to Celebrate Mother’s and Father’s Days in Fresno?

17 hours ago

A Tidal Wave of Change Is Headed for the U.S. Economy

21 hours ago

‘Do Not Mock Us’: Trump’s AI Pope Photo Draws Backlash from Catholic Leaders

22 hours ago

Warren Buffett Shocks Shareholders by Announcing His Intention to Retire at the End of the Year

22 hours ago

Don’t Have a REAL ID Yet? That Could Cause You Travel Headaches After May 7

23 hours ago

Grand Theft Auto VI Delayed Again, This Time Until May 2026

23 hours ago

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese Wins a Second 3-Year Term

23 hours ago

Justice Department Will Switch Its Focus on Voting and Prioritize Trump’s Elections Order

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend