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Tascal Valley residents press Corona‑Norco board to create fund for promised high school; board asks staff to bring resolution
Summary
Residents urged the board to earmark developer fees and other capital resources for a future Tascal Valley high school; trustees directed staff to prepare a committed‑balance resolution and to include projects in the facilities master plan.
Residents from Tascal Valley pressed the Corona‑Norco Unified School District board to create a dedicated capital reserve for a promised local high school, citing decades‑old commitments and recent developer‑fee revenues.
Jan Lee Watson, a 30‑year resident and member of the Tascal Valley education committee, reminded the board of prior promises tied to Measure U and said the community has been overlooked. "We voted to tax ourselves for a high school," she said, asking the district to create a line item in its facilities fund so funds can be saved for the project.
Speakers supplied numbers from public records: the district’s developer‑fee report shows $9.3 million collected districtwide with about $3 million from Tascal Valley, and one commenter summarized several pending development projects that could generate additional revenues. Jerry Cuch estimated residential development revenue of roughly $5.5 million based on currently approved units and a district fee assumption; other commenters cited a combined pipeline of industrial/commercial projects that could generate additional capital in the future.
Trustee Bill Pollock provided history dating to the 2006 Measure U bond, saying the district had planned a Ranchel Serrano High School on district‑owned land but that the project never advanced while other bond projects were completed. Board members and staff discussed land constraints, required entitlements and grading work, and possible models (a smaller alternative high‑school campus versus a full comprehensive high school).
Staff recommended a two‑part approach: (1) prepare and bring a resolution to commit a portion of capital fund balances as a designated reserve (a committed balance) for Tascal Valley (and a similar reserve for Eastvale) at an upcoming meeting (target: August board meeting), and (2) include the projects and priorities in the district’s facilities master plan to be completed next year. Steve G. of California Financial Services explained legal constraints tied to developer fees and community facilities districts, including rules about taxable bond proceeds and timing of expenditures.
No new expenditures were approved at the meeting. Trustees directed staff to return with a drafted resolution and with periodic updates to ensure transparency and accountability in how funds would be saved and tracked.
