Save our performing arts center

The Problem:  Several school board members have expressed concern about the cost of a performing arts center along the lines of the facility outlined by our survey respondents. A facility that will have tremendous positive impact on the District and the community! A curriculum area linked to academic achievement! We need to act quickly to prove to the board that students, alumni, and faculty from area schools AND the community want this project to happen.

Pressing need: Get our performing arts center on the District’s Facilities Master Plan. To help us, please complete the information at this ONLINE FORM. In the comment boxes at the bottom, please identify the performing arts center at El Camino as a specific project for the board to support. Then share the link with a friend. The information collected by the District will be shared with the DLR Group, the firm producing the master plan. 

Background:

• Summer 2012:  ecARTS members volunteer to help the District ensure Measure N’s passage (which included handing out election flyers for some of our board members).
• Nov. 2012: Measure N passes and a District employee attends an ecARTS meeting to tell us our performing arts center is a sure thing.
• Spring 2013: ecARTS tabulates survey results from SJU schools and community organizations and creates a list of features our new performing arts center must have. ecARTS hires LPAS to produce a conceptual drawing (below).
• Summer 2013: ecARTS and LPAS representatives present the plan to SJUSD board members Lucinda Luttgen and Pam Costa. While the board members seem to support the concept, the cost of the facility is prohibitive in their opinion.
• Oct. 2013:  ECHS, Starr King, Cowan, Mission, and Arcade vote unanimously for a performing arts center. DLR is impressed by an idea that serves thousands of students, and the “signature project” aspect they believe the District needs.
• Nov. 2013:  School board members continue to express reservations about the cost of a facility and are not convinced that several schools will use it. Help us convince them!
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