FAIRFIELD — Solano Community College, with locations in Fairfield, Vacaville and Vallejo, is poised to jump into the future with the passage of a $348 million bond measure paving the way for capital updates and improvements.
After several tough years of budget cuts, the college, along with other educational institutions, is looking at a brighter future after the passage of the state sales tax increase. Summer school returned in 2013 after cuts forced its cancellation in 2012 and some of the last of the Measure G bond money from 2002 is being used to renovate the administration building that will include an updated and reconfigured board room.
The college offers a variety of opportunities for its students, giving them the ability to earn a certificate, a degree or transfer to a four-year institution. In addition to core academic classes, it offers programs in nursing, cosmetology and aeronautics. The college also added in August an automotive technology program under a memorandum of understanding with the Fairfield-Suisun School District, using the labs and classrooms at Armijo High School.
In the meantime, the college is in the beginning stages of negotiations for a piece of property near the Vallejo campus that would permanently house the college’s automotive technology program.
While the college has an auto body program, it has not had an automotive technology program for more than a decade, said Jowel Laguerre, the college’s president/superintendent. The program will initially take 25 students and double that the next year.
The college district is also in the process of adding solar array panels to each of its campuses. The project began in February 2013 and is designed to cut the district’s electricity use by 60 percent, saving more than $500,000 a year. The Vallejo solar array is completed and the remaining project is expected to finish in the fall.
The community college was established in Vallejo in 1945 as Vallejo Junior College and was part of the Vallejo City School District until 1967. The 192-acre main campus on Suisun Valley Road was completed in 1971. The college district also has a 10-acre site in Vallejo, a 60-acre site in Vacaville and a presence on Travis Air Force Base.
Reach Susan Winlow at 427-6955 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/swinlowdr.
