Manteca Unified is buying 8.76 acres for the future expansion of the Nile Garden School campus.

A resolution before the school board when they meet Thursday, April 18, at 6 p.m. at the district office, 2271 W. Louise Ave., would authorize acquiring the land for $1,489,000.

The purchase would dovetail into the district’s strategy to maximize elementary campuses in terms of efficiency without impacting the quality of education as being the best way to accommodate growth.

 The fees paid by growth as well as funds generated to date by community facilities district would not cover the cost if Manteca Unified attempted to build a new elementary campus.

The last new elementary school campus built in the region was nearly two years ago for almost $60 million south of Tracy..

The strategy involves positioning existing elementary campus, where possible, to accommodate up to 1,100 students, some 300 more students than the district’s previous target for a typical elementary campus.

That stretches what limited money there is for new construction and weds it with modernization efforts that have included not just replacing aging classrooms but also inadequate support facilities such as multiple purpose rooms.

The bottom line is the district is in a position to add “brick and mortar” classrooms quicker than building a new campus to accommodate growth.

They can also afford to pay for the needed classroom space given growth fees and CFD taxes do not cover 100 percent of the cost of building a new campus but can cover added classrooms for growth at existing  campuses.

The strategy allows the district to bypass — for now — building a new  elementary campus from scratch. That avoids significant  upfront costs for infrastructure and support facilities given they are already in place.

The district has positioned both Lincoln and Sequoia schools, as an example, to add “packs” of classroom given replacement support facilities were designed to accommodate larger enrollment.

Between that and the decision to build an early education center for transitional kindergarten and kindergarten on the Tinnin Road property, the district will be able to accommodate adding the equivalent enrollment to an additional elementary campus in the southern part of the City of Manteca.

It will be done by kindergarten classrooms being repurposed and adding classrooms to existing campus where it is possible.

The same approach has been used to take the three high school campuses in Manteca from a designed capacity of 1,600 students to 2,200.

That essentially will allow another high school to be built without breaking ground on another campus.

The district has already been modernizing the Nile Garden campus.

At the same time, city water lines are in the process of being extended to the Nile Garden School.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com