At Oceano Elementary School, a new field is in the works.
Right now, it’s the same field Oceano Elementary has had since PTA President Nicolle Olson went to school there. Now, her kids have a chance to use something different.
“I would love that because my cousin does track and field at the high school and I want to do that like when I get older," Olson's 3rd grader said.
“[My kids] would be able to utilize it for many years and just be able to be active and run," Olson added.
Since last school year, plans for a new community walking and jogging track and a soccer field have gained traction and would provide kids with a safe, new area to run.
“The soccer field is kind of plain and like there's only one goal, so there's like no competitors," one elementary student said.
“They could be able to play better in a field that is not as holey and with tripping hazards and stuff like that," Olson said.
But it won’t just be for the kids at the school.
“The beauty of the project is after school hours, it'll be open to the public and it's a facility that we don't have anything like here in Oceano," said Peter Brown, Oceano Community Services District General Manager.
“The full scope of a track project like this is that all of our facilities have the ability to be used by the public under the [California] Civic Center Act,” said Curt Eichperger, Lucia Mar Unified School District Assistant Superintendent of Business Services.
The Act authorizes the Lucia Mar Unified School District to allow the use of school facilities for things like AYSO soccer and local track and field programs, giving the Oceano community a space they’ve been lacking.
“They desire this type of, you know, public space and recreational space.”
Some of the funding sources for the project to date have been a local business, a school jog-a-thon, a community development block grant from the county, and individual donors.
“People are going to want to give to things that enrich the community," Olson concluded.
Brown said they’re about halfway to their goal having raised about $65,000 in the last few months. They are hoping to break ground by the end of this school year.
