RANCHO SANTA FE — Once again residents of Rancho Santa Fe stepped up to support the sale of bonds for the renovation of the R. Roger Rowe campus. In February, the community overwhelmingly passed Proposition E, which approved $34 million in funding for the renovation.

The school district recently sold these bonds through the firm of Piper Jaffray & Co., a financial advisor and underwriter for many municipal bonds. Standard & Poor’s rated the bonds AAA, the highest rating awarded. “The bonds sold extremely well,” Superintendent Lindy Delaney reported in a report to the school board. She explained that a first priority was given to those living in the four zip codes in and around Rancho Santa Fe. A second priority went to retailers and then institutions were given an opportunity. Interest was high and all of the bonds were sold to those in the local zip codes. According to Delaney, there were more buyers than there were bonds; retail and institutions were unable to buy.

This summer, architectural plans for the new school are being developed. The school board recently approved a final design for the renovation that was collaboratively developed by a design committee which included project architect Trittipo Associates, representatives of the Art Jury, school board members, teachers, administration and other qualified representatives. The architectural plans currently being developed will be discussed and tweaked by board members before being submitted to state agencies for construction approval. Execution of these plans will begin in June 2009 and will be completed in August 2010 before the new school year begins.

In other school board news, the board approved the shredding of records that can be destroyed according to California Education Code. Delaney explained that the school is required to keep records for students for specific periods of time, but the storage of these records on the premises is not possible. Therefore off-site storage units are rented, but in a recent search through these units, records dating back as far as 1970 were discovered. These old records will be shredded.

Because landscaping will be significantly altered during next year’s renovation, there were budget concerns as to whether tree trimming was necessary for the coming year. Delaney said she will oversee these cutbacks as she and landscape architect David Reed plan to walk the premises and discuss what is necessary and what can be delayed.

The school board accepted letters of resignation from two teachers, David Cann and Rachel Winter. Teacher Jessica Henke will be taking maternity leave until Dec. 1 and she will then replace another teacher who will be taking her maternity leave for the remainder of the year. “This will be a job share and will work out nicely,” Delaney said.

The next school board meeting will be held Aug. 26.