Dave Alley
NIPOMO, Calif. (KEYT) – A multi-phased modernization project to replace aging portable classrooms at Nipomo High School is now underway.
Over spring break last week, Lucia Mar Unified School District began work with the removal of eight portable classrooms that were located in the middle of the campus, with an additional nine to be moved in the near future.
“This is relatively a new school that opened in 2002,” said Nipomo High School Principal John Denno. “However, over 80% of the classroom buildings were portable and so this is long overdue for us to actually get some permanent structures on our campus. We have 17 classrooms that are being removed and we’ll have 17 brand new classrooms here in about 18 months.”
Once all of the portables are removed, the ensuing construction project will replace the old buildings with brand new “stick frame” constructed classrooms.
“Permanent, structures are really nice because each of these portable classrooms are 20 feet by 40 feet,” said Denno. “It’s a rectangular build and sometimes it makes it very challenging for teachers to configure their classrooms in the best learning environment to engage students. The new stick built classrooms will be more square in shape that allow for much more engaging classroom space.”
Denno, who has been principal at the school since 2014, added the new classrooms will provide students several more advantages to their overall educational experience, as well as the school and district.
“Not only for just the morale of the campus, and the pride that the community has,” said Denno. “We have a lot of permanent buildings at the entry points of our campus, but once you’re on the campus, we’ve got a large percentage of our classrooms are portable. They are not energy efficient. In fact, Nipomo High School has one of the largest energy bills in the district due to the fact that portable classrooms don’t retain heat and they don’t retain cool air. They’re a much better educational setting. The configuration being a little more open, a little freer for teachers to reconfigure classrooms. Teachers will kind of get away from that, row and column structure, and have forward facing classroom space where students can work more collaboratively and focus on those 21st Century skills.”
Once completed, classrooms will be inside three different buildings that are expected to have a lifespan for several decades.
“Our goal over the next seven or eight years is replace as many of those as possible,” said Andy Stenson, Lucia Mar Unified School District Facilities Executive Director. “Ideally, we’d like to replace all of them with stick built construction. Stick built is always going to be better than portable classrooms. Portable classrooms are not built with the same insulation. They’re not built on a permanent foundation. They’re meant to be temporary, and as a district grows over time, sometimes you don’t have the funds to go with stick built because it is more expensive. Our overall aim is to eliminate as many portable classrooms as possible and build stick built classrooms that will be economical and be a good value to the taxpayers that gives us 60 to 70 years of life.”
With students off campus last week, construction began on the project that is expected to take a year-and-a-half to complete.
“Over spring break, we removed half of the portables that we plan to remove, and we’ll remove the rest this coming summer,” said Andy Stenson, Lucia Mar Unified School District Facilities Executive Director. “This coming summer is the first phase of the project with rerouting of utilities. The project will begin in earnest from a construction standpoint, probably in early fall. This first phase, we anticipate that we’ll be able to move into these classrooms in approximately 18 months.”
Stenson added the cost of the project’s first phase is slated to be $13 million.
The school district was fortunate to pass Measure H back in November of 2024,” said Stenson. “That provides a funding stream for this project. In addition to that, we will go through the process to apply for state matching funds, and with some luck, we should be eligible for about $5 million in free state match money on this project.”
A second phase of the project is the addition of a new multi-purpose building that would serve as a secondary gym, not only for Nipomo High School, but also Central Coast New Tech High School, which is located next door.
“It has been approved by our school board for an additional multi-purpose room to be,” said Denno. “We will still require the state to approve that project, but it be centralized between New Tech and Nipomo High School will be a shared space for the both campuses benefit.”
While construction is ongoing, Denno indicated there will be no disruption to any existing class this semester or for any others in the future while work is being done
“We’re fortunate at a point with our current enrollment that we don’t have to bring in temporary housing to accommodate our current classes,” said Denno. “Some of the things that we have been able to do was embrace a new special education model that’s allowed us to consolidate classrooms. We have some other spaces that previously were vacant. Our ASB class is in a temporary location for at least the next year and a half and so we’ve been pretty fortunate to not have to displace too many people.”
The start of construction on the new classrooms continues a series of positive events to happen at the school over the past couple of months.
Recently, Nipomo High School was named a California Distinguished School, an honor achieved this year by only one other San Luis Obispo County school, Mesa Middle School in rural Arroyo Grande, which serves as Nipomo’s feeder campus.
In addition, the school’s acclaimed Future Farmers of America (FFA) program was honored by the state, FFA instructor Russell Zimmerman was named California’s 2025-2026 “Ag Educator of the Year” during the California FFA State Leadership Conference in Ontario, plus two Nipomo athletic teams, boys soccer and girls wrestling, each claimed CIF-Central Section championships.
“Our (school) team has done some incredible work,” said Denno. “We’ve been fortunate enough in athletics as well as activities. Our FFA program was recently ranked number four in the State of California. We’re excited about the things that are happening at the bottom line. This is an incredible community. We’ve got great students and we have an incredible staff, and so seeing the improvements on our campus, I think really goes a long way, it, helps support that Titan Pride and team spirit and community spirit. We know that there’s a bright future ahead of us!”
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