To ensure students have quality educational facilities in which to thrive, Whittier Union’s facilities and business staff have worked diligently to improve and upgrade learning environments.
The District’s construction and modernization program began in 1998 when voters passed the $98 million Measure C bond and continued with the $75 million Measure W bond, passed in 2008. Augmented by state and federal matching grants, the bond sales have funded improvements to classrooms, libraries, gymnasiums, cafeterias, infrastructure and athletic facilities.
A majority of projects funded by Measure W include vocational and career technical education classrooms and facilities, as well as athletic fields such as those at La Serna high School.
Slated to be complete by March 2018, La Serna’s upgrades include a new synthetic track, natural grass football and soccer field, natural grass and clay baseball and softball fields, and tennis courts.
In 2016, the District completed the construction of a 7,000-seat stadium at California High School that includes an artificial turf field, all-weather track, junior varsity and varsity baseball and softball fields, outdoor basketball and volleyball courts, and soccer fields. It is a replica of a stadium constructed at Pioneer High in 2015.
Other Measure W projects include upgraded heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and energy systems; upgraded security, safety lighting, landscaping, irrigation, and playing fields; and improved access to school facilities for people with disabilities.
Projects completed under Measure C include a library at Cal High, classroom buildings at La Serna and Santa Fe high schools, modernization of historic buildings at Whittier High and upgrades of main quads at each school, including Pioneer.
The Board of Trustees has governed the expenditures on these projects with the oversight of a Citizens’ Oversight Committee.