Pomona Unified School District is moving to demolish and rebuild Golden Springs Elementary School, one of its oldest campuses, using funds from the $235 million bond measure local voters approved in 2022.
The decision to fully reconstruct rather than modernize the school signals that the existing buildings have reached the end of their useful life. Like many California elementary schools built during the postwar suburban expansion of the San Gabriel Valley, Golden Springs was likely constructed in the 1950s or 1960s and now carries decades of deferred needs: seismic deficiencies, outdated HVAC systems, accessibility gaps and infrastructure that predates modern classroom technology. At a certain point, patching those problems costs more than starting over.
Timing matters here. California voters passed Proposition 2 in November 2024, injecting $10 billion into the state's School Facility Program after it ran dry around 2020 and left districts without access to matching funds. Pomona Unified, which serves roughly 21,000 students across eastern Los Angeles County, is among the districts that can now pair its local bond dollars with state money, but that window could close again as demand outpaces funding. Districts that move quickly on reconstruction projects stand to capture the most matching dollars.
Source: NationGraph.
Golden Springs sits near the Diamond Bar portion of the district's attendance boundaries, an area where enrollment has held steadier than in Pomona proper and where community expectations around school facilities run high. Pomona Unified's student body is approximately 85% Latino and more than 80% socioeconomically disadvantaged, and Superintendent Richard Martinez, who has led the district since 2014, has made facilities investment a central priority of his tenure.
The district is using a lease-leaseback delivery method, a contracting approach widely used by California districts that allows selection based on qualifications and experience rather than the lowest bid alone. The district has posted the solicitation on BidNet Direct as it works toward selecting a construction firm. Once a contractor is on board, the project will move into design and then construction, with the rebuilt campus eventually replacing everything currently on site.
