Mesa Public Schools faces $1.4B repair bill for aging campuses
Mesa Public Schools show extent of repair needs
Leaking roofs, broken air conditioning and campuses largely unchanged since the 1950s add up to a $1.4 billion reality facing Arizona's largest school district. FOX 10's Taylor Wirtz reports.
MESA, Ariz. - Leaking roofs, broken air conditioning and campuses largely unchanged since the 1950s add up to a $1.4 billion reality facing Arizona's largest school district.
What we know:
Mesa Public Schools invited the public on Dec. 3 to see firsthand the extensive facility needs across its schools.
Reporters got an inside look at the district’s oldest junior high school, Carson, which was built in 1958. While students and staff take great pride in their school, it faces challenges typical of its age, as much of the campus has not been significantly updated.
"With having a school that truly has been around for a long time, there's different needs that we have," said Carson Junior High School Principal Christopher Brunst.
Brunst highlighted some of those needs on a tour, ranging from flood concerns to an old HVAC system. He recalled one incident where the aging equipment failed.
"We once had our air conditioning go out in the afternoon, and we were going to have some sporting events in our gym, and we weren't able to have them there," Brunst said.
Dig deeper:
Superintendent Matthew Strom said Carson's needs are not unique. The district as a whole faces approximately $1.4 billion in building and infrastructure capital funding needs.
"The majority of our schools are in the age range of 40 to 70 years old. Those take costs to keep up with," Strom said.
Years of reduced state capital funding have worsened the problem, according to Strom.
"When you defer maintenance for a certain period of time, it starts to add up on you and creep up on you," he explained.
To address this, the district is holding citizen budget committee meetings to involve the community in budget decisions.
"What we want to do is create transparency in how we're thinking, transparency with our decision-making process," Strom said.
Brunst hopes the meetings inspire parents to get involved.
"When we're thinking about those types of choices, there’s real impacts for our kids," Brunst said. "I've seen that for my kids every single day, how our facility might impact them in a positive way or in a negative way. And so I would hope that that's at the forefront of their minds."