New high school planned for Plumas Lake

Michaela Harris, Appeal-Democrat, Marysville, Calif.
·3 min read

Feb. 3—After over 10 years of planning and development, a new high school will be established in Plumas Lake.

With the success of the School Facilities Improvement District 1 Bond Measure during the Nov. 8, 2022, general election, the construction of Plumas Lake High School will be carried out in the near future.

The vision for a high school near Plumas Lake Elementary School District came together in 2011 with Wheatland Union High School District purchasing property along River Oaks Boulevard for a possible school site in 2012. Wheatland Superintendent Nicole Newman said that the district was proactive in its decision to purchase the property, knowing that there would eventually be a need for an additional high school.

Wheatland Union takes in a significant number of students from both the Wheatland Elementary School District and Plumas Lake Elementary. As of now, the high school district serves over 1,100 students in the area.

"Based on current enrollment projections, we will be maxed out at WUHS by 2030 and will need the high school completed to serve the growing community," Newman said in an email.

With the growing number of residents and students in the area over the years, district officials recognized the need for Plumas Lake High School, but struggled to pass bond measures to fund the construction of a new school.

The success of the District 1 bond measure last year was contingent on creating two separate districts to serve the individual needs of Wheatland, Plumas Lake and the surrounding areas, Newman said.

"We went about it differently this time. Because the needs of Wheatland, Beale, Smartsville and Plumas Lake are different, we decided to split the two areas up into two separate School Facility Improvement Districts (SFID). Districts can form an SFID if planned capital projects will benefit only a certain area of the district," Newman said.

Over 56% of voters voted in favor of the District 1 bond measure, authorizing the district to issue $16 million in bonds to begin construction for Plumas Lake High School. Newman said that the work from this bond measure will initiate site development, approval from the California Department of Education and school infrastructure.

Match funding from state construction programs and future bonds will also be needed in order to construct a comprehensive high school, she said.

"For the new high school in Plumas Lake, the state will match the voter approved bonds to give us additional funding to move forward with a high school, and so we have started the site planning and development process. Improvements at the high school will be constructed in phases to accommodate growth in enrollment incrementally," Newman said.

District officials plan to serve a least 1,200 students at Plumas Lake High School, and the district will engage the community as partners in the planning process, she said. Advertisements for a Bond Oversight Committee have been sent out which will ensure that funds from the bond measure are spent according to the language on the ballot.

"For now, our obligation is to serve students in both communities. Fortunately, due to the age of the facilities and other factors, the district qualifies for hardship funding, which opens funding possibilities to make improvements to the existing campus and allows for expansion in the interim until the new high school is built," Newman said.

Plumas Lake High School will also benefit from the district's recent grants for Career Technical Education (CTE), school safety, mental health programs and community schools. Over $20 million in funding will go toward a number of programs serving all students in the Wheatland Union High School District.

Newman said that the district was most recently awarded $3 million to expand the district's CTE pathways to include veterinarian tech, arts, media, and entertainment, and fire science and law enforcement.

"Regardless of having one or two high schools, the vision of the district remains the same and we will continue to be a destination of choice and ensure that we are serving every child, every day, whatever it takes," Newman said.