Swim Paso responds to grand jury report about school district
–On Feb. 18 the Swim Paso Association issued a news release about the San Luis Obispo County Grand Jury report on the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District and the Paso Robles Aquatic Complex project. Swim Paso says its members were not interviewed by the grand jury, which led to errors in the investigation. Swim Paso is now planning to apply for a $3-million grant, and is asking for the school board’s support to move forward with the aquatic complex.
Swim Paso Association, Inc (SPA), a 501c3 non-profit, public benefit corporation, reviewed the grand jury report regarding Paso Robles Joint Unified School District (PRJUSD) and provided PRJUSD board and administration with a 14-page informational response document. This document can be viewed at www.swimpaso.org. While SPA is specifically mentioned in the Grand Jury’s report, the Grand Jury never made contact with the Swim Paso Association during its course of investigation. SPA has had members involved in the Paso Robles Aquatic Complex project and Measure M since 2016. It is the belief of SPA board members that this lack of communication during the investigation led to omissions and errors regarding the aquatic complex in the Grand Jury final report.
SPA is thankful PRJUSD board recognizes the commitment and spirit of support in our community and that the fundraising results are currently incomplete as all efforts were halted upon recognition of budget issues within PRJUSD prior to December 2018 and have not commenced since, due to PRJUSD’s ongoing financial issues, school administration and school board turn over, and more recently COVID19.
SPA is preparing to apply for a $3 million grant which would provide the majority of remaining funds needed for phase one build-out. It is SPA’s intent… to formally request that the PRJUSD School Board place the aquatic complex on their agenda in March 2021 as an action item and to work with SPA to plan for forward movement on this school board and voter-approved Measure M project. SPA is not asking PRJUSD to allocate additional funds above the Measure M $5.7 million allocation. SPA is not asking to break ground at this time. SPA is asking for the PRJUSD School Board to review this project as intended and to allow work in the nature of grant applications, fundraising and donation commitments, collaborative discussions with community partners, and additional mutually agreed upon steps required to prepare to build this long awaited project.
–Swim Paso
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