I read your recent post on The Skyline View. They want Skyline College to have a fitness center for students, similar to what two other SMCCCD colleges have at San Mateo College Athletic Center and Cañada College Athletic Center in Redwood City. I would like to point out that both of these universities offer opportunities to get involved in the community. Both facilities can be used by everyone from elementary school students to the elderly. There are adaptive classes for swimming and other physical education classes. It is used by many seniors, young people, working adults, and students. We welcome you to join our community.
Note that $70 million in bond money was diverted from Skyline University to Cañada College to build the Cañada College Athletic Center. It was supposed to be a $50 million facility, but ended up being $120 million. $70 million in bond funds were diverted from Skyline to Universities Canada. This decision was taken at the district level by the former Chancellor and the SMCCCD Board. Board member Richard Holover said in a video of the February 2024 SMCCCD board meeting that voters may not want to vote for new bonds if they issue them. But diverting $70 million in bond funds from Skyline was fine. Skyline has a small weight room and no community access. A handful of people make spending decisions that last a lifetime. Maybe my grandchildren will get something from Skyline, but I don’t think it will happen in my lifetime.
There are three YMCAs in South County, but none in North County. While the southern counties have many amenities for the community, the northern counties have very few. Is there any way to let the students know what happened and why Skyline didn’t get anything? We recently learned that Cañada has a brand new athletic center and a high-rise science and technology building. I don’t think students know. Skyline acquired an environmental science building overlooking the ocean, and although there were a few classrooms, most of the buildings will host celebrations. This does little to help the community or students. It is deeply unfair that Cañada College (which has a smaller student body than Skyline) got a huge athletic center while Skyline College gave nothing to its students and community.
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