Board Splits 3-2 on $20M Pool Design Over $6M Budget Gap

The Cabrillo Unified School Board pushed through a packed agenda Wednesday night, unanimously adopting the district's budget, accountability plan, and a new meal vendor — then fractured over a $19.8 million aquatic facility at Half Moon Bay High School that exceeds the Measure K master plan by $6.2 million. The evening ended with all five members voting to put the educational parcel tax renewal before voters in November, even as the vice president warned the board was "not projecting competence" in how it prepared the measure.

• Board approves $19.8M pool-and-teaching-pool design 3-2, with two members voting no over missing written community funding commitments for a $6.2M budget overage

• Parcel tax renewal heads to the Nov. 3 ballot after unanimous vote, but Vice President Cerneka slams 200-person survey and lack of community committee

• Teacher calls on district leadership to talk directly with staff, warning that misinformation-based complaints signal a communication breakdown

• New meal vendor Ordo Inc. approved at $4.20 per lunch, as the district bets better food will close a $300,000 annual gap

• 2026-27 LCAP and district budget adopted unanimously, with new IXL assessment platform coming for TK-12

The longest and most contentious debate of the night centered on whether to approve a $2,079,652 design fee for a new aquatic complex at Half Moon Bay High School — a project with a total construction value of $19,806,207, or $6,166,067 more than the $13.6 million allocated in the Measure K facilities master plan.