Merced City School District is planning to build a new school. Here’s what we know
In anticipation of enrollment growing by 600 students over the next five to six years, the Merced City School District is planning to build a new school.
The school will be an elementary or middle school, depending on the demographics of the more then 2,000 homes expected to be built in North Merced during that time frame. And the cost would range between about $42 million and $55 million.
The new campus would be the 19th school added to Merced County’s largest school district that includes about 11,500 students. The process from planning to opening a new school could take four to six years, according to Merced City School superintendent Julianna Stocking.
“We will continue to generate annual demographic studies to ensure that we’re prepared for state approval to position ourselves for a new school as our community is growing and demonstrates the need for a new facility,” said Stocking.
The district recently made moves to address the issue of overcrowding at schools with the school board approving a school boundary adjustment plan during a Feb. 11 board meeting that will impact about 1,200 students this upcoming school year.
The board also approved moving sixth graders from elementary school to middle school campuses beginning in the 2026-27 school year to help the overcrowding problem.
Biggest growth in the district
According to Stocking, the district is expected to add over 600 students with the construction of the new housing in North Merced, which is expected to generate 498 new elementary school students and 139 new middle school kids.
“The building projections indicate that Peterson, Franklin and Stephanie (elementary schools) enrollment boundaries are in the areas that will experience the greatest influx of new students based on those development projects,” Stocking said.
Based off the district’s projected enrollment numbers with its demographic study, the new school will be a middle school.
“We will be closely monitoring the age of the children moving into those homes as the homes are built,” Stocking said. “If we see mid course that it would benefit from being an elementary school, we would then pivot.”
Estimated costs
The district estimates the cost of a new middle school will cost about $55 million. The cost for a new elementary school is about $42 million.
The planning and building of a new school, with the planning and approval process, is expected to take two to four years.
Included in that process is the district showing the need for a new school through enrollment projections and applying to the state of California for approval of funds to build the new school.
MCSD would then work with various state agencies on design and coordination. There would be environmental review, soil surveys and construction documents with architects and engineers. Those plans would then need approval at the local city and county level.
After all the planning and approval process is completed and the construction bids have been finalized, the actual construction of the school could take between 12 to 15 months.
According to Stocking, the district did include language in Measure O, an $80 million school bond for the district to help improve and modernize facilities, to help address overcrowding in schools.
“We will be looking to start this process of development in terms of the planning stages of a new school, and recommending to our school board to use a portion of the Measure O bonds,” Stocking said.
Possible locations
Stocking says the district owns land at three potential sites in north Merced for the new school. One site is 7.15 acres located at the corner of Paulson Road and Cormorant Drive, which is just a couple blocks away from Cruickshank Middle School.
Another option is 13 acres of land located on Arrow Wood Drive near M Street, north of Merced College. The third location is 16.3 acres of land located on Cardella Road, between R Street and Highway 59.
“We are very fortunate to already own these properties and be able to identify and utilize one of them for our new school,” Stocking said.
Stocking says it’s important for the district to be looking five, 10, even 15 years down the road for the stability of the district.
“This is where these steps to really envision premier facilities and high quality educational programs and services for our students are at the top of the mind for our strategic planning,” Stocking said.
This story was originally published March 5, 2025 at 2:06 PM.
