VUSD partners withaward-winning achitechture firm JKAE on master planning for 2025-2026.
What is the Facilities Master Plan?
Vacaville Unified School District is building a Facilities Master Plan (FMP): a long-range strategy for how the District invests in its schools, campuses, and support sites in the years ahead. The plan measures how well each campus supports teaching today, documents the condition of buildings and grounds, pinpoints urgent infrastructure and safety work, and gathers perspectives from students, staff, families, and neighbors so that spending decisions track both classroom needs and community priorities.
THE FMP INCLUDES:
- Facility condition assessments at every campus
- Educational adequacy reviews site by site
- Cost projections for modernization and improvement work
- Conceptual layouts for sites and buildings
- Enrollment forecasts and demographic trends
- Analysis of state funding eligibility and opportunities
- A rubric for scoring and ranking projects
We want to hear from you!
Help shape what our schools become. The FMP charts a long-term course for improving school buildings and grounds. Stop by one of our host campuses to look over plans for the host school and its feeder schools, and tell us what you think. Every workshop is open to students, staff, families, and neighbors.
Community Workshop Schedule
A community survey will run at each campus workshop as part of the planning process, and we hope you will take part. Can't make it in person? The workshop documents and a survey link will be provided here at the start of the workshop:
VUSD FMP Campus Vision Plans and Community Workshop Files (Open 9/28/26)
Community Survey (Link Published 9/28/2026)
Why does our district need a Facilities Master Plan (FMP)?
California voters approved Proposition 2 in the fall of 2024, creating a new statewide School Facilities Bond funding program (SFP). To tap those state dollars, districts must first complete a five-year Facilities Master Plan under rules set by the Office of Public School Construction (OPSC). For the first time, OPSC has issued standardized criteria spelling out what a plan must contain before projects qualify for funding. VUSD adopted a master plan in early 2024, but that document predates Prop 2 and does not carry the level of detail the new law requires. In May 2025, the District released a request for proposals for Prop 2-compliant master planning services. Seven firms responded, a panel of district leaders interviewed three finalists, and JKAE was chosen. The selection weighed relevant experience, the specifications of the final product, approaches to community engagement, and cost. The Board of Education approved the final master planning agreement at its September 11, 2025 meeting. JKAE, working with AECOM, VM3, and San Juan Unified School District, received a Leroy F. Greene Design & Planning Award of Excellence in February 2025 for the San Juan USD 2024 Facilities Master Plan. The award, given jointly by the CA Coalition for Adequate School Housing (CASH) and the American Institute of Architects (AIA), honors outstanding school facilities design and planning. That SJUSD plan took the form of a digital platform that helps districts track assets, tie facilities back to educational goals, and rank modernization projects using data. VUSD enters this partnership aiming to produce a Master Plan built around the needs of our schools and the wider Vacaville community. The graphic below lays out the schedule of master planning activities, with the work expected to wrap up in late fall 2026.
A number of our neighborhood schools date back decades and carry real infrastructure problems. A recent facility condition assessment put the cost of bringing every building component up to an adequate standard at roughly $181.5 Million. The most pressing needs are failing roofs, HVAC systems that cannot keep up with extreme heat, and buildings constructed before today's health, safety, and building codes took effect.
On top of that, California's Proposition 2 (AB 247) requires a board-approved, five-year Facilities Master Plan before a district can qualify for state funding.
The FMP is the District's guide for facility improvements. Developing and adopting one allows us to:
Secure State Matching Grants
Without a current FMP in place, the District is locked out of state funding for modernization, safety upgrades, and new construction.
Maximize Taxpayer Dollars
Matching local bond dollars to documented facility needs keeps spending transparent.
Plan for Future Growth
Pairing today's campus conditions with enrollment forecasts helps ensure classrooms keep pace with demand.
Prioritize Maintenance
A clear sequence for structural repairs and technology upgrades keeps work moving efficiently across every school site.
Work Completed to Date
Vacaville Unified is working alongside seasoned educational and facility planning professionals on the FMP. Several major pieces are already finished:
COMPLETED: Facility Condition Assessments; Every campus and support facility has been walked and documented, covering building systems, structural integrity, site conditions, and code compliance.
COMPLETED: Educational Adequacy Reviews Each site was reviewed for how well its spaces serve current programs, from classroom size and technology infrastructure to labs, career-technical facilities, and the overall learning environment.
COMPLETED: Demographic and Enrollment Analysis Enrollment figures, demographic shifts, and growth projections were analyzed to guide capacity planning for the years ahead.
COMPLETED: Cost Estimating and State Funding Analysis Early cost estimates for candidate modernization projects are in hand, paired with a review of state matching fund eligibility to stretch available resources.
IN PROGRESS: Site and Building Plan Concepts Draft site and building concepts are underway for each campus, illustrating the improvements and modernization options the assessment data points toward.
How can I provide my input on our school facilities and campuses?
Input from the students, staff, families, and neighbors who use these campuses every day is central to the FMP. Join us at a community workshop to share yours.
FMP Process Timeline
Step 1: August – September 2025
Capture the Big Picture Vision
Visioning sessions with district leadership, the FMP Steering Committee, and Vacaville Teachers Associationand SEIU representatives built a shared picture of the learning environments and student experiences we want to support.
Step 2: October – December 2025
Identify Educational Goals and Facility Needs
Turned the Vacaville Unified vision into educational adequacy goals by grade level and campus type, keeping facilities planning tied to District priorities. Steering Committee workshops shaped the staff and student surveys, which were then administered at the elementary, middle, and high school levels to surface gaps affecting instruction, safety, and daily school operations.
Step 3: January – May 2026
Assess Existing Conditions
Folded in the existing facilities condition assessment and added targeted follow-up studies to build a room-by-room picture of size, utilization, and capacity. Stood up an editable, long-term asset system to support ongoing maintenance and facility planning.
Step 4: May – August 2026
Develop Transformation Concepts Built campus vision plans that pull the big-picture vision, educational priorities, facility conditions, staff and student input, and capacity data into blueprints for facility and campus improvements.
Step 5: September – October 2026
Document the Facility Master Plan
Hold community engagement sessions for students, families, staff, and neighbors, then weigh that input against the bigpicture vision, educational priorities, facility conditions, and capacity data. Fold the feedback into revised site concepts and the plan framework.
Frequently Asked Questions
How will projects be ranked?
A data-driven scoring rubric will weigh facility condition, educational adequacy, safety needs, equity, enrollment projections, and state funding eligibility to determine which projects move first.
Will my school be included in the plan?
Yes. Every Vacaville Unified campus is part of the FMP, and each one receives both a facility condition assessment and an educational adequacy review.
How can I get involved?
Come to a community engagement session in fall 2026. Spanish interpretation is provided at every in-person session, and the online survey is available in English and Spanish.
When will the FMP be completed?
The completed Facilities Master Plan is expected to go before the Board of Education for review and adoption in late fall 2026.