November 4, 2016 (Sacramento):  Sacramento City Unified School District’s Board of Education voted Thursday to approve a school facilities agreement with developers of The Railyards Project north of downtown.

Under the terms of the agreement, Downtown Railyards Venture LLC will provide a site for a new elementary school within the 244-acre mixed-use project and the funds to build it. The agreement also calls for the developer to fund a proportionate share of a second school – should it be needed – and provide funding for costs of interim facilities to accommodate students who live in the Railyards as the project is being built out.

The district estimates that the 6,000 to 10,000 planned residences within the project could generate as many as 1,900 elementary schools students, 300 middle school students and 400 high school students when fully built out. Currently, the district has room for only about a sixth of those students in its schools that serve downtown.

Superintendent José L. Banda called the agreement a win for the district and for city efforts to reinvigorate the downtown area as a home for families seeking an urban lifestyle.

“With its planned soccer stadium, medical campus, housing units and acres of open spaces, The Railyards Project will bring new families and new energy to Sacramento’s urban core, an area our district has served since 1854,” Superintendent Banda said. “We are excited to play a part in this new chapter for our city.”