CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The ongoing economic recession that first surfaced a few years ago served as the catalyst to further invigorate a long standing collaborative relationship between the Yuba Community College District, its Clear Lake Campus and Konocti Unified School District, officials with the college and district reported this week.

A Monday report said the relationship has always stemmed from the sincere interest of all parties to best serve the educational needs of the students and the Clearlake community, and has typically taken the shape of articulation of programs. During recent years that relationship has grown further.

In the 2009-10 academic year KUSD was faced with the tough decision of what to do in the wake of millions of dollars in budget cuts.

Ultimately, one of the decisions that were made was to close Oak Hill Middle School, which was adjacent to the Clear Lake Campus, and make the local elementary schools into K-8 institutions, creating an immediate cost savings, as Lake County News has reported.

As a result of that decision, property at the former middle school, including the bus barn, were now available. With the Clear Lake Campus looking at options of where to place its future buildings, a new partnership opportunity was created.

The KUSD Board of Trustees approved a purchase agreement at their June 2, 2010, meeting which was subsequently approved by the YCCD Governing Board on June 9, 2010.

The agreement was for YCCD to acquire a 3.17 acre parcel of property adjacent to CLC on 15850 Dam Road Extension in Clearlake, CA for $475,000.

The acquisition of the property will enable the Clear Lake Campus to add three new permanent facilities to the campus – a student services center, a science building and a culinary arts facility.

The land acquisition will also provide the Clear Lake Campus direct frontage to Dam Road Extension and greater visibility and access to the general public from State Highway 53. These three new buildings, which comprise 29,000 square feet, will be the first permanent buildings at the Clear Lake Campus.

The property acquisition and construction of the buildings constitute a $19 million project which is a part of the Proposition 39 Measure J facilities bond program passed by District voters in November 2006.

Construction has started on the new facilities with a groundbreaking ceremony being held on Sept. 7.

"This project will transform the campus, and will make it much more visible to the community,” said Clear Lake Campus Executive Dean Bryon Bell. “No longer will people drive down a narrow access road to discover what they've described as a 'hidden gem' in our community. I anticipate this project, along with our work in strengthening partnerships with KUSD and other local entities will provide long-term benefits to students in Lake County."

Also on Sept. 7, Lower Lake High School had a groundbreaking for its new auto shop facility. This state of the art facility is another example of how YCCD’s and KUSD’s partnership has made public dollars go further.

Four years ago a grant was written and received that would pay for one-half of the facility. While these funds were frozen due to the current financial crisis, the dollars garnered from the land sale helped secure the other half of the construction monies needed. Additionally, as part of the sale agreement, YCCD paid to improve the access road to the upper field at Highlands.

When the auto building is completed later this school-year, it will be filled with equipment and a new paint booth purchased through collaboration with local agencies and businesses.

“Clear Lake Campus students will be able to use the auto facilities and LLHS students will benefit tremendously from the new facilities at the college,” said Konocti Unified Superintendent Dr. William MacDougall. “This is a wonderful story about how through collaboration we can accomplish a great deal, stretch our dollars, and move forward during these tough financial times.”

Lower Lake High School's auto shop instructor will teach both high school and college classes. The Clear Lake Campus hopes to offer a small engine repair certificate in the near future as well as other types of automotive programs to accommodate both student demand and local workforce needs.

“This is truly a new era for the Clear Lake Campus,” said YCCD Chancellor Dr. Douglas Houston. “The future is bright and will continue to be so as long as we sustain the strong partnerships that we have built with our local school districts, businesses and community.”

The Yuba Community College District spans eight counties and nearly 4,200 square miles of territory in rural, north central California. It has colleges in Marysville and Woodland, an educational center in Clearlake, outreach operations at Beale Air Force Base and in Williams, and will be adding an outreach facility in Sutter County as part of the Measure J facilities bond.

For more information about YCCD visit www.yccd.edu.

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