The Abridged version:
- As growth in Rocklin becomes more limited and the city population settles, school leaders are concerned with making sure their campuses stay full.
- Their most recent effort involves a proposed $288 million bond. The money would go toward repairs and renovations at all 17 school sites in the Rocklin Unified School District.
- Enrollment decline is a pressing problem for districts across the region and state. Rocklin officials say they are planning ahead to keep the trend from hitting their schools.
As the city of Rocklin faces more limited growth opportunities, its school leaders say they are taking steps to prevent enrollment decline and ensure their campuses remain a draw for new residents.
The most recent effort is a proposed $288 million bond aimed at renovating dilapidated facilities across the affluent Placer County district.
If approved by the school board next month, the measure would appear on Rocklin voter ballots in November.
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More than $300 million is needed to repair and modernize the Rocklin Unified School District, according to a 2024 facilities master plan. The to-do list includes replacing leaky roofs and outdated plumbing, plus upgrades to career technical education classrooms.
School board members and Superintendent Roger Stock solicited feedback from parents and community members at a town hall Thursday. Among about 20 attendees, the mood was generally supportive.
Many attendees said they just want to see the city and its schools withstand changing circumstances.
“If we allow our facilities to age too much, we have an issue where people might not want to stay in Rocklin, because no longer are they coming for the schools,” Trustee Tiffany Saathoff said.
‘A new season for Rocklin’
From her conversations with local realtors, Saathoff said she still hears of young families moving to the area, often attracted by the school district’s high ratings.
Yet when families settle in Rocklin, they often stay put. The prevalence of empty nesters, combined with rising home prices, means turnover in the suburb can be sluggish.
“This will be a new season for Rocklin,” Saathoff said.
The city’s population boomed during the pandemic, fueled by an influx of residents who left the Bay Area.
But Rocklin — essentially landlocked between Lincoln, Loomis, Roseville and Granite Bay — is expected to hit capacity within roughly the next decade.
“We’re not going to be building new schools,” Saathoff said. “So how do we stay fresh and enticing and keep families here and keep families coming?”
Board eyes bond measure
School leaders have kept a competitive edge by launching new high-caliber academic or extracurricular programs every few years, Saathoff said.
But now, all eyes are on the facilities.
Stock, the superintendent, said the bond measure in question would give district officials enough money to make repairs and renovations to all 17 schools. The majority of those schools are more than 20 years old and two — Parker Whitney Elementary and Rocklin Elementary — are older than 60.
Approving the $288 million in bond funds would make Rocklin Unified eligible for an additional $82 million in matching funds from the state.
“It’s a win-win,” Stock said.
The last bond in Rocklin Unified passed in 2002 and will be paid off in 2028. The new measure would cost taxpayers about $60 per $100,000 of their home’s assessed value, slightly lower then the previous bond’s rate.
That net decrease in taxes is a key selling point for district officials to residents.
Preventing decline
Enrollment at Rocklin Unified is expected to plateau over the next decade.
District leaders are concerned with making sure those numbers do not start dipping.
The problem of fewer students plagues schools and districts across the region and state. A slip in numbers means less funding from the state and often painful budget cuts or even school closures.
Bret Hunter, a parent of three Rocklin students and teacher at Whitney High School, said full-scale renovations would go a long way toward preserving Rocklin’s school population.
“We want to make sure that we’re staying ahead of it,” Hunter said, “versus getting behind the curve of what we’re going to do for the next generation.”
Savannah Kuchar is a reporter covering education. She came to Sacramento to be a part of the Abridged team and contribute to a crucial local news source.