MILPITAS -- In a collaboration born of necessity, Milpitas High School will get a new building on campus to offer community college courses for adults and to help high-schoolers get a jump on college.
The facility, which will take a few years to build, fulfills a promise the San Jose-Evergreen Community College District made to its voters when it sought approval of construction bonds in 2004. The district pledged to better serve Milpitas, the area farthest from the district's two campuses -- San Jose City College and Evergreen Valley.
Now the college district plans to use $10 million in bond money to construct the satellite campus on the 45-acre Milpitas High site.
"It will be a tight squeeze," Milpitas Unified Superintendent Cary Matsuoka said. The college district will cover long-term costs, he said, while the school district likely will cover maintenance.
In an era of budget hardship, San Jose-Evergreen Chancellor Rita Cepeda said, districts can't always finance what they need. But, she said, "Superintendent Matsuoka has 50 cents, I have 50 cents, together we have $1 and we can