Long Beach Post: LBUSD Breaks Ground on New McBride High School, Will Open in 2013

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

LBUSD Breaks Ground on New McBride High School, Will Open in 2013

by Long Beach Post | Staff Reports | 09.04.11 |

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Pictured from left to right: Carl McBride, son of Ernest McBride, Sr.,�Jon Meyer, LBUSD school board member,�Chris Steinhauser, LBUSD superintendent,�Carri Matsumoto, LBUSD executive director of facilities development�and planning,�Ernest McBride, Jr., Dr.�Felton Williams, LBUSD school board

president, and�John McGinnis, LBUSD school board member.

9:45am | The Long Beach Unified School District officially broke ground last week on�its new, $75 million high school named after Long Beach civil rights�pioneer Ernest McBride, Sr.

The new�Ernest S. McBride, Sr.�High School (McBride High School) will serve about 1,000 students and is�slated to open in fall 2013. �Located on the 24 acres of East Long�Beach*s former DeMille Middle School site at 7025 E. Parkcrest St.,�the new school is funded through Measure K school bonds approved by 71�percent of local voters in 2008. �Such funds may be used only for school�construction and renovation.

The new school will be small compared to LBUSD*s large, comprehensive�high schools that serve more than 4,000 students each. �According to a LBUSD press release, research studies�and ample feedback from parents and other community members suggested�that Long Beach should create smaller high schools as part of its�Facilities Master Plan.

*A few years ago, we asked parents, educators, community members and�business leaders what they wanted in new schools. �They said, smaller is�better,* said Board of Education President Felton Williams in the release. �*That, and the�data we saw on student achievement in smaller schools, convinced us to�make a decisive move toward smaller schools, especially high�schools.*

Several members of the McBride family were on hand to celebrate the�occasion, as was Long Beach NAACP President Naomi Rainey. �The�school*s namesake, Ernest McBride, Sr., co-founded the Long Beach�branch of the NAACP, and though he died in 2007 at the age of 97, he�left a legacy of peaceful but persistent advocacy for equal opportunity�in Long Beach. �His son, Ernest McBride, Jr., shared with the audience a�favorite phrase that his father would likely have uttered at today*s�ceremony:

*I*m tickled pink,* McBride, Jr. said.

*I want to thank the school board and superintendent for bestowing�this honor upon my family,* McBride added. �*We really appreciate�it, and we*re overjoyed.*

According to LBUSD, when it opens in Fall 2013, McBride High will offer an innovative�program of rigorous coursework focused on preparing graduates for�college and careers in their choice of three high-demand fields:�health/medical, law enforcement/legal services, and engineering.

*We*re so excited about this project,* LBUSD Superintendent�Christopher J. Steinhauser said in the release. �*It*s going to be the gem of this�entire community, and we*re going to make sure that every student who�walks through the doors of this school is prepared to go on and be�successful in life.*

Click here to download a LBUSD fact sheet on McBride High School.

Rendering of the new McBride High School

Comments

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13 Comments so far.

Livy
Measure K was for new OR renovated schools. $75 MILLION for a NEW school rather than making some changes to DeMille (which was only like 45 years old)? WASTE of money...and people wonder why schools are run poorly....

educator/architect
75 million dollars for a school with max. enrollment of 1,000 students! 75,000 dollars per student, and with teacher lay-offs, no one to teach. I am sure the kids would have enjoyed owning a house instead in Riverside.

Anonymous
they should be the pride like as in a lion pride or the armada and be purple and orange

So....
...they tore down a school to build a new $75 million school? F'ing stupid. Who the hell makes these decisions? Did they even graduate high school? You'd think not with some of the ways they waste money.

Simpleton
"According to a LBUSD press release, research studies and ample feedback from parents and other community members suggested that Long Beach should create smaller high schools as part of its Facilities Master Plan."

Some simple math here. LBUSD has 6 high schools with around 4,500 students each - 27,000 students in total. Building a new high school that only serves 1,000 students reduces the over-crowding by less than 200 students per existing high school. Better than nothing I suppose, but not material progress for the remaining 26,000 students who are stuck with way-too-large high schools.

And the price tag is absurd. This has to include some accounting shenanigans. $75MM for low-rise government buildings where the land is already owned? How did we get to this?

Jeeze
Definitely not smarter than a fifth grader. I always love how the powers that be can manipulate the money once they sell the public on the overall idea. To create a school like this for that kind of money to serve only 1000 students is absurd. Especially when our existing schools have so many needs.
No, it is not better than nothing!
"research and ample feedback from parents "suggest"???" really? Did they suggest you spend $75 MILLION on a project like this? Of course when you start believing your own press releases....

Livy
For Simpleton: Agree 100%. This is why school bonds will not pass any more. I think educating our youth is our nation's single greatest obligation, but our school leaders WASTE to much for us to trust them. Who signed off on the cost analysis of this project?

CHS
I esd pretty excited about this new school until I thought of my friend Lance who lost his job as a teacher/coach in June.

DocHawk
New schools are expensive because the building costs are higher than in private buildings (due to extra government safety regulations). It's why schools in our country do not pancake and kill thousands of children during an earthquake. And rather than simply looking at the raw numbers, consider that expenditures such as this are an investment in our community's future. I believe this high school will be providing specialized technological training for various trades which might be adding to the cost. As the deomographics of our city change (fewer young children), the need for elementary and middle schools has diminished which is why they were torn down. And yes, only 45 years old, but there is a LOT of new technology, and why would we want to deprive our students of the opportunity to train for trades careers of the future? Think LONG TERM!

Just another simpleton
Great dochawk. When the big one comes we will save the 1000 students who are lucky enough to enroll in this school rather than upgrade the schools for the remaining 26,000. Thinking long term is great but let''s also think big picture and stop promulgating fear.

Simpleton
@ DocHawk. The building codes re: earthquake safety for new public and private buildings are the same. We don't want buildings pancaking on either Junior at school or his mom or dad at work.

The higher cost of gov't vs. private building costs isn't new. It has to do with graft and patronage in myriad permutations over the decades and centuries.

Technology costs for students encompasses hooking up personal computers. How much did you pay to hook up your computer at home? And remember that you should be paying a lot less for hooking up 1,000 computers than you pay for 1 or 2 at a time.

More Waste
The technical subjects to be emphasized should be taught at the other schools because that is what kids need in order to be successful in a high tech world.
This is the reason a lot of us won't support school bonds anymore. There is no brainpower behind the planning. Geez!

@educator/architect
@educator/architect

Why I agree with your sentiment, no one enjoys owning a house in Riverside. :) I kid of course, kind of.