CVUSD celebrates brand-new state of the art headquarters

The Coachella Valley Unified School District celebrated their brand-new state of the art headquarters with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday afternoon.

The new headquarters building comes after more than 45 years of working out of portables with a promise for a new facility one day. The new building, located in Thermal, is two-stories tall.

“Our boardroom is like three times larger than the old one, so we have more people participating in our meetings, so we have more community involvement, we have more participation and that’s what makes me the most excited,” said Erik Lee, superintendent assistant of business services for CVUSD.

Students, families, staff, and city leaders came together for the dedication ceremony. The project was approved about 7 years ago and staff said it was worth the wait.

“We can finally say the mission has been completed. For 47 years this building operated out of temporary portables,” said Maria Machuca, the only current CVUSD board member who approved the project back in 2012.

Former board member Joe Murillo also played a role in the building’s groundbreaking.

“It started a long time ago. There were obstacles, bumps in the road, but after all, the good overcame and now you can see we have this wonderful building for the community,” Murillo said.

Board member Neftali Galarza took the moment to look back at his childhood, enrolled in CVUSD.

“I used to see the Desert Sands building and I used to see that and think, we have trailers, and it was just mind blowing,” Galarza said. “Fortunately, we are here to celebrate this great triumph for our community, and for our students most importantly.”

Staff said the facility houses a majority of CVUSD employees and is intended to be home to its students, staff and their families.

“The future is sky high. Our students will have something to be proud of and something to look to and guide them to their goals,” said Maria Gandera, assistant superintendent of human resources for CVUSD.

According to Lee, the building was built using Measure D money, which was passed in 2005 by voters. This was a $250 million bond intended for construction projects only. Lee reiterated that the money could not be used for anything else.

There was some controversy about the spending as at the same time some staff were being laid off. News Channel 3’s I-Team looked into questions residents and staff brought up regarding the district’s spending. You can watch the report below.