In November 2018, the School Facilities Board (SFB) approved approximately $26M for construction of a second high school in Maricopa Unified School District.  Criteria that determine eligibility for new school facilities constructed with SFB funding are based on an annual evaluation and approval of school district enrollment projections and the additional square footage that would be needed to maintain adequacy standards. Since the SFB acknowledged the need for additional facilities to accommodate the current high school’s growing student body, the district has launched capital planning that will ultimately lead to the opening of the second-high school in July 2022.

The design of the physical space will support and reflect the goals for educational programming. Phase-1 must comply with School Facilities Board requirements, and would consist of classroom space that can be scaled up and supplemented as the school population grows. The SFB defines full capacity at 1,330 students in 125,000 square feet.  At full build-out, a comprehensive high school would accommodate 2,200-2,400 students.