The Future of the Port Costa School and partnership with "The Field Semester."

From the Port Costa Conservation Society Board 2024:

In the late 1980s, the town of Port Costa made the decision to save the Port Costa School building from collapse by buying it from the local school district. The newly-formed nonprofit Port Costa Conservation Society (PCCS) was tasked with ownership and responsibility for the large building, which is over a century old, and the surrounding grounds. The financial and practical challenges of such an undertaking were daunting, and the early years of PCCS’s ownership of the Port Costa school were focused just on saving the building. The efforts of dedicated volunteer townspeople brought it back from extreme dilapidation. Damage from severe floods in 1995 & 2006 released FEMA funds which helped pay for a strong foundation, walls, and roof. Since then the school and grounds have been used for community and fund-raising events like the Car Show, Talent Show, and Arts & Crafts fair, and are rented out for weddings and events, which provide additional income.

However, the modest income from these activities, plus qualifying grants and member donations, is simply insufficient to keep the building operational long-term. Nationwide, financial support for nonprofits from donations and grants is in decline. It will take something more than to pay the necessary maintenance and repair bills to keep the school open. And the building is still rough and unfinished inside, with a minimal kitchen and no heating or A/C, which limits its attractiveness an event space. The large one-time investment necessary to finish the building remains out of reach. The dream of preserving this treasured piece of Port Costa and California history and having it available as a fully equipped community resource is in jeopardy. It is not a good sign when a building sits unused 80% of the time. The prospect of eventually having to sell it to some other party is real. The Conservation Society board members have spent years struggling to find solutions, and none have proven practical or achievable. A partnership with a compatible institution with resources to solve the problem was the best possible choice.

Port Costa Conservation Society has been in discussion since 2016 with The Field Semester, an environmental education program for high school-age students, about a joint-use arrangement for the Port Costa School. PCCS will lease a portion of the space in the School long-term to the Field Semester for classrooms and facilities

for the students taking part in the program. The students will be in residence nearby for approximately nine months out of the year, living at the adjacent Port Costa reservoir property and using the School daily for classes, meals, and other activities. The Field Semester offers a program for students to take a semester out of their high school years to focus intensively on environmental studies in a setting that provides hands-on experience in the ecosystem of the reservoir and its watershed. By providing such training to these students the program helps address the urgent global environmental problems that face us all. PCCS is delighted that the School will be restored to its original use as a place for education of young people, as it was for over 60 years. (For more pictures click on bit.ly/PCSchoolphotos)

In return for leased use of a portion of the space in the School, the Field Semester will provide the much-needed and long-hoped-for improvements not just for the portion they will be using, but for the entire building. That will be an investment of over $3 million which will be their payment of rent for the 15-year term of the lease. The School will continue to be owned and used by PCCS, and available as always for all town events and gatherings, but with much better facilities and features. There will be a new, fully-equipped kitchen, an ADA bathroom upstairs, upgraded bathrooms downstairs, A/V in the auditorium and classroom, a catering kitchenette for the auditorium, and throughout: heating and air-conditioning, new lighting and electrical upgrades, finishing and painting of the rough ceilings and walls, The playground and field will remain open for community use and enjoyment.

This plan has been communicated to Port Costa town residents starting in 2016 via information packets, surveys, and several community meetings in which concerns and questions were welcomed and addressed. It was known from the beginning that the presence of the Field Semester’s 45 students plus approximately 15 staff for a good part of the year would have an impact on the town and its residents.

In 2018 PCCS worked hard to prepare an unbiased and factual survey asking for candid feedback and comments from the entire town. (That survey form is available upon request.) When the survey results came in, it showed that townspeople were generally supportive or at least open to proceeding with the plan. Since that time a minority group of residents strongly opposed to the plan formed an association to stop it. There has been little direct dialog from that group with either PCCS or the Field Semester about their concerns. Instead there has been a campaign to falsely demonize the Field Semester people as greedy profiteers who will somehow take over and destroy Port Costa. The group has also targeted town residents who support the plan, causing an atmosphere of insecurity and suspicion, and seriously damaging town morale. What a paradox when their motto is "Save Port Costa". The group's allegations and claims are addressed point-by=point in our Issues document which you can read by clicking on the link on the last line below.

In spite of these troubles many in town are open to the idea of the school once again active and busy with students, and supportive of being connected to something larger that is positive and meaningful, a program that is working towards solutions to daunting problems facing humanity.

The terms of a lease between Port Costa Conservation Society and The Field Semester have been hammered out and the next step is for the PCCS Board to sign and make the commitment. However, even when signed, it is still conditional on The Field Semester receiving full approval of their plans that are now with Contra Costa County Planning. And issues surrounding the town sewer system must be resolved with the local sewer district. Work will begin only when those goals are met. In terms of timing, there are no immediate changes that will affect the school. The Field Semester's estimated target opening date is currently no earlier than Fall 2026.

If you are interested, please take a look at the complete proposal, which is available on the Field Semester website:

http://www.fieldsemester.org/tfs-at-port-costa-schoolhouse

Click here to see a discussion of issues current among Port Costa townspeople regarding The Field Semester plans: