‘Anomalous feature’ discovered under Paso Robles school. What happens to renovation plan?

The long-awaited remodel of Georgia Brown Elementary School in Paso Robles will likely be delayed after surveys of the ground found an “anomalous feature” beneath the campus.

It’s unclear exactly what the issue is, but it’s throwing a wrench in the district’s plans and likely means students will return to the campus in the fall rather than move to a temporary location as part of a campus swap involving Glen Speck Elementary School.

The Paso Robles Joint Unified School District originally expected to completely remodel the 1950s-era Georgia Brown campus during the summer so students could learn next school year in an environment free of leaky ceilings, constant cockroach threats, cracked pavement and fenced-off playgrounds.

But a state-required investigation of the ground under the campus — called a geotechnical survey — found something that requires further investigation, according to Brad Pawlowski, the assistant superintendent of business services at the district. The district must get permission from the school board to do that.

The unexpected underground feature could be a fault line or remnants of the Salinas riverbed from long ago, Pawlowski said.

It does not pose any immediate threat to the staff or students at the school, he clarified.

In medical terms, the first geotechnical survey could be considered an ultrasound of the underground features beneath the elementary school campus. Now, the district must perform a biopsy of the ground to determine what the unusual feature is.

That will require the school district to hire a consultant to dig up the ground and analyze the soil so it can identify whether the feature is a fault line, old riverbed or something else, Pawlowski said.

Ground study will likely pause renovation plans

Because of the additional investigation required, the school district must likely hit pause on its plans to move the Spanish-English dual-immersion program at Georgia Brown to the recently remodeled Glen Speck Elementary School campus, while relocating Glen Speck students to Georgia Brown.

The plan calls for remodeling Georgia Brown, located at 36th and Vine streets, into a smaller campus that would be suitable for about 317 students.

The campus is then expected to be renamed Glen Speck Elementary School once those students move there.

While the remodel of the 36th Street campus was underway, the district intended to move current Georgia Brown students and teachers into a temporary campus at nearby Flamson Middle School campus.

The current Glen Speck Elementary School, located at 17th and Vine streets and which has been remodeled to fit about 642 students, was expected to host the popular dual-immersion program this fall. That campus was then supposed to be renamed Georgia Brown Elementary School.

But the anomalous feature under the current Georgia Brown campus on 36th Street has upended that plan for the moment.

“This obviously makes the scheduled move to the temporary site ill-advised until we know more, so I am recommending to the Board next Tuesday night that the move to the temp campus be postponed,” Paso Robles school district Superintendent Curt Dubost wrote in a note to parents on Monday. “This delay will give us time to determine if there are any further cost-effective options to move forward with the existing plan.”

Should the school board agree with the superintendent during a vote expected to be held during its board meeting on May 23, the dual-immersion Georgia Brown Elementary School will start the next school year at the current site on 36th Street, Dubost wrote in his note.