Raw sewage and bursting pipes: Why California community colleges are asking voters for repairs

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The sewer systems at two Los Angeles community colleges are about to fail — “catastrophically.” Nearby, in Torrance, a community college shut down multiple buildings, some for weeks at a time, because the heating and cooling system is so old it broke.

Seismic engineers delivered a dire prediction to a Sacramento community college last year: a central building on campus might collapse.

Come Nov. 5, California voters will have a chance to help repair these ailing community college facilities. A “yes” vote on Proposition 2 will allow the state to borrow $10 billion to construct new buildings or fix ailing ones at community colleges, public K-12 schools, and charter schools. While most of the money would favor K-12 districts, especially those in communities with high property values, 15%, or $1.5 billion, would help community colleges.

Voting no would prevent the state from taking on more debt. California currently owes about $80 billion through bonds it has issued over the past 30 years, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office. Every year, the state pays off a piece of that debt, plus interest payments. Opponents to the bond, such as Assemblymember Bill Essayli, a Corona Republican, say lawmakers should have prioritized education in the annual budget rather than rely on interest payments that saddle future generations with debt.

The ballot proposition has broad support, including from both the California Democratic and Republican parties. A September survey from the Public Policy Institute of California found that more than 50% of likely voters support it.

But it’s not guaranteed that the measure will pass. In 2016, California voters approved new bonds for schools and community colleges, but the most recent ballot proposition in 2020 failed.

“It’s been eight years since the last time that the state of California passed a statewide school bond, and so this Proposition 2 is urgently needed,” said Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, a Torrance Democrat, before emphasizing that the measure would not raise taxes. Muratsuchi sponsored the bill that created the bond measure.

‘Raw sewage leaks’ and bursting pipes

In the past 10 years, El Camino College in Torrance has unveiled three new buildings — a student services center, a gymnasium, and a “center for applied technology.” Combined, the new facilities cost roughly $100 million. The college also opened a new 7,800 seat, $48 million stadium on campus with space for pole vault, high jump, and steeplechase events.

Inside, these buildings are sleek and modern, with warm lighting and curated slabs of exposed wood. But the work of renovating and modernizing the entire campus isn’t done.

The community college has more than 7,000 feet of underground pipes that are “obsolete” and “at risk of immediate failure,” according to a state report. These pipes use water to heat and cool campus buildings.

“Imagine you have thousands of students coming in and out of a building throughout the day,” said Bob Suppelsa, the college’s vice president for administrative services. “If you don’t have heat in those buildings, it’s not a very hospitable learning situation for the students.”

Electrical, internet, and sewage lines are also underground and often adjacent to the ailing water pipes, he said. “A simple water line break can turn into multiple problems if it doesn’t get repaired quickly.”

The college made repairs as needed, but in the last few years the problems got worse, Suppelsa said. At that point, he decided to replace the whole system. The project will cost around $12 million, and the community college district is asking the state to contribute about three-quarters of that.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state’s finance department will make the final decisions about which community college projects receive bond money. The Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office will make recommendations based on a scoring system that favors safety and projects that fix conditions endangering students’ lives. Fixing El Camino College’s heating system is currently one of the top three projects in the state, according to initial recommendations that the chancellor’s office shared with CalMatters.

Although Muratsuchi represents the region served by El Camino College, he said he wasn’t aware of the infrastructure problems at the school and said he had no role in the ranking process.

The other highest-ranked projects are also in Los Angeles County and include repairs at Los Angeles Pierce College and Los Angeles Valley College. At both colleges, the sewage pipes are so old, reports said, that they might crack, leading to “raw sewage leaks” and groundwater contamination.

The chancellor’s office provided CalMatters with a list of 27 potential projects, which are located across the state and represent about half of the total $1.5 billion in proposed bond funds. Hoang Nguyen, director of facilities planning for the chancellor’s office, said the state would draft additional proposals if voters approve the ballot proposition.

A building on the brink of collapse

Even if it’s approved, the bond money will only help a fraction of the colleges that need repairs or new facilities. Nguyen said the state’s 116 community college campuses would need at least $28 billion to address all of their facilities needs — and that’s just the current list.

Some expensive and urgent projects aren’t yet on the roster of needed repairs. In August 2023, for example, the Los Rios Community College District, located in the Sacramento area, received a final report from an engineer that found Davies Hall at American River College was at risk of “catastrophic failure” in the event of a big earthquake. The district decided to close the building as soon as possible. At the time, about 3,000 students were taking classes there, according to campus spokesperson Gabe Ross.

Students walk near Portable Village, a temporary learning structure created in response to the closure of Davies Hall in 2023, at American River College in Sacramento, on Oct. 9, 2024.Louis Bryant III for CalMatters

Chain-linked fence blocks access to Davies Hall.Louis Bryant III for CalMatters

“It’s the largest instructional building, at our largest college, in the second-largest district in the state,” said Mario Rodriguez, executive vice chancellor for finance and administration at the Los Rios Community College District.

The campus has been in flux ever since. Some classes went online while others moved into temporary classroom space. Constructing a permanent replacement for Davies Hall will cost the district more than $50 million, Ross said.

Most projects, even urgent ones, are the result of years of work spent evaluating the problem and gathering cost estimates. Rodriguez said the district plans to finalize and submit its proposal for state bond dollars by the end of the year.

If it does, and voters approve the bond measure, Davies Hall is practically guaranteed to receive some money because this summer state legislators added language to a law that asks the community college system to make it a “top priority.”

But if voters say no, Rodriguez said he isn’t confident that a local bond measure could easily generate the same amount of money. In 2020, the community college district put a local bond on the Sacramento County ballot. It failed.

Adam Echelman covers California’s community colleges in partnership with Open Campus, a nonprofit newsroom focused on higher education.

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