By Rick Radin
Contra Costa Times
Posted: 09/01/2011 02:03:29 PM PDT
Updated: 09/02/2011 05:45:02 AM PDT


The Pittsburg school district is in the midst of a building boom at the same time it has added about 500 students and hired 71 teachers.

Enrollment is up about 6 percent to 10,310 students, and the new teachers bring the district total to 510, according to Superintendent Linda Rondeau.

The attendance increase resulted in part from the district's higher test scores, new school construction and upgrades to the city through redevelopment, Rondeau said "School districts having more kids is good news, both fiscally and as a compliment to the district," she said.

An early-retirement program in the spring helped the district replace older teachers with lower-paid, younger teachers, she said.

Pittsburg's eight elementary schools jumped an average of 26.5 points in state academic performance testing for the 2010-11 school year, and the two middle schools showed smaller gains.

Pittsburg has begun constructing a new continuation school and is about to start on the district's third middle school.

The new Riverside Continuation High School will be at a site near Loveridge Road and Stoneman Avenue.

The new middle school will be built at 950 El Pueblo Ave., the site of a former elementary school, said Enrique Palacios, associate superintendent of business services.

Voters passed a $100 million bond issue in November that will be used to build the junior high and renovate the eight elementary schools. The continuation school is being financed by bonds issued in 2006.

The district opened a new high school a year ago that accommodates about 2,500 students.

Contact Rick Radin at 925-779-7166.