As the Del Mar Union School District moves forward with modernization of its 33-year-old Carmel Del Mar School campus, they face questions from parents about transparency, unfairness of of Measure MM funding, and what the community really wants for the school that they love, the home away from home for their kids.
There was a full house at the board’s April 23 meeting as parents and PTA said they feel as though high priority items, like the need for a larger multi-use room (MUR), have been disregarded in the ongoing design process. They are asking for the same dedication and attention given to the schools east of the 5 like the newly rebuilt Del Mar Heights and the renovated Del Mar Hills Academy that will welcome back students in the coming fall.
“We’ve been clear from the gate, we need a new MUR. It’s not just about assemblies, it’s not just about fitting the whole school in there. (The community) used to vote in that MUR…We can’t do anything there anymore,” said Ann Feeley-Summer, executive vice president of the Carmel Del Mar PTA of the undersized and dated space. “We have seen our resources pulled away and it’s frankly insulting, offensive and it’s embarrassing for our school.”
Del Mar Union School District (DMUSD) Board President Gee Wah Mok said the board appreciated the and he understood the parents’ perspective—before he was in his board seat, he was on the other side advocating for a neighborhood school to be built in Pacific Highlands Ranch. As a result of MM funding, Pacific Sky opened in 2022.
Mok assured parents that nothing is set in stone as conversations continue with the DLR architect group, pushing toward starting construction in summer 2026.
After hearing from 15 ionate public speakers, Trustee Alan Kholos said the night had been one of his favorite board meetings as it was all about education and problem solving. He expected the next step to be more board and community discussion on design choices and the data.
“We have a situation here where there’s no clear answer, we have to decide trade-offs and have a dialogue,” Kholos said. “The reason why we’re such a great district is we have kids and parents who are emotionally attached to the communities that we’ve created at our school sites. …Let’s keep it positive, let’s problem solve together.”
Carmel Del Mar, affectionately known as “the school with a heart,” opened with its distinctive twin brick castle turrets in 1992—it was the first DMUSD school east of Interstate 5. The campus underwent a partial modernization in 2015, several classrooms have been transformed into modern learning studios and new playground equipment was added in 2022.
A series of engagement sessions with the DLR Group architect team were held in January and February but many parents said they felt like they were a waste of time as the district appeared to already have a set agenda, particularly on the library/innovation center plans. As a number of questions came out of a meeting with the PTA, a fourth input session was added on April 18.
“Everyone in attendance had the same ask: a bigger MUR, ramp access to the library, more outside shade for outdoor learning, streamlined areas for breakfast and lunch service, and bathroom upgrades,“ said Monique Wood, a PTA board member.
Parent Nicole Miles said that CDM’s restrooms have needed repairs and maintenance for many years. There are only two sets of restrooms for 560 students, and kids and teachers have complained about the “awful” odor that goes into the classrooms near them.
Many parents expressed worries about what the district’s proposed innovation center would look like. They said the library is the heart of the school and they want to keep it that way: a place for books, a quiet refuge for students, a place where Ms. Lily fosters a love of reading. They do not want any books removed or for the space to be “chopped up” to make it single elevation or to add more tech.
“I love our school. This process has made me really sad, incredibly sad. I think it could’ve been a lot better,” said Susanne Volk, current PTA president. “I understand that we have a budget, I understand that things happen, I understand that other schools had to be worked on and those parents needed to be heard. We want to be heard as well. We don’t feel heard.”
The biggest need for the school is the MUR. Wood said that they do the best with the MUR they have but with a bigger space, they could do so much more.
“Us kids want an MUR where we can sit inside as one group,” said Miles, reading a letter from her fifth grade daughter Harper.
Parents say events are a logistical nightmare to set up and, usually, they need to expand to the outdoors because there’s not enough room. The space is “very small, very outdated, dusty and cramped” and parents said if they are even a couple minutes late, they are forced to watch performances peering in from outside through the doorway.
Sanna Depew, the parent chair of the drama program, said as there is not enough space they have to move performances outside into the amphitheater and rent sound equipment—in just three years she said the PTA spent $15,000 on the sound for shows.
“We are proud of our district…I’m proud of our school. I want to invite my parents, I want to invite my neighbors to see the excellence of Del Mar Union School District,” said Depew. “I’ve been to five other MURs in the district and some of it is overkill and we don’t need all of that. We’re just asking for a basic footprint where we can all get together and celebrate our kids, celebrate fine arts in our schools…Fine arts in our schools don’t belong in an innovation center, we need a performance space and a stage.”
Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Chris Delehanty said currently the MUR is 2,800 square feet—most in the district are between 2,700 to 3,500 square feet. He said he has been working with the structural engineers to explore expanding it about 1,000 square feet, into the courtyard toward the front office. Trustee Bill Porter, who lives in the community and was a teacher at CDM for 16 years, said he doesn’t want to look down on the school to see just a large box for the MUR. He suggested possibly extending the space with a roof over the courtyard, something that would embrace an indoor/outdoor feel “without giving up the aesthetics of the castle.”
“With creative ideas, we can come up with some win-win solutions,” Porter said.
No renderings have been shared yet on what the new library/innovation center would look like. Delehanty noted that the new Pacific Sky and Del Mar Heights Schools have large, open-floor plan innovation centers as well as decentralized libraries. At Carmel Del Mar, he said the plan would not be to move any books—it would continue to have a full book collection.
“Our goal really is to make sure that students have more access to books and that looks different at different sites,” Delehanty said. “Carmel Del Mar is fortunate to have a library/innovation center that is right in the center.”
As the library is recessed, the design aims to create a more open space as it is currently constrained by the u-shaped pedestrian walkway surrounding it, the cabinetry and shelving. Collaboration spaces with the nearby STEAM+ learning studios could be created.
Parents have also stated that Carmel Del Mar deserves a larger modernization budget than $10 million, especially compared to what the other schools have received from Measure MM. Some similar budget frustrations were expressed with the Del Mar Hills modernization, which was delayed and over-budget due to the legal challenges with the Del Mar Heights rebuild and the need for a costly seismic retrofit.
At the meeting, Delehanty said while $10 million is the hard construction cost, the total modernization project is a little over $13 million. He shared some cost break-downs for the line items such as $4 to 6 million for an MUR expansion or $250,000 for a MUR renovation, $1.5 million for the innovation center, $3.5 to 4 million for classroom/learning studios, and $3.5 to $4 million for repairing the roof.
In her comments, Superintendent Holly McClurg appreciated that the CDM community is highly engaged and said that people coming forward with ideas will only help the district get to the best decisions. Delehanty said he plans to continue to work with DLR Group over the summer and come back to the board and community for a complete discussion on design options.
Later that night, the board also started the process for the next school in line to receive a modernization: Ashley Falls. The board approved a contract with HMC Architects for another collaborative planning process.
