San Diego Community College District

All 10 of the San Diego Community College District’s campuses sustained water damage due to a major winter storm January 19-22 that generated historic rainfall totals. The storm overwhelmed storm drains and caused flash flooding across San Diego County. 

The most significant impacts within the SDCCD, which includes San Diego City, Mesa, Miramar and Continuing Education colleges, occurred on the campuses of San Diego College of Continuing Education (SDCCE). The damage consists of major flooding of classrooms, hallways, and parking structures along with damage to walls and other infrastructure.

A complete damage assessment is underway by the district, and staff are working diligently to ensure all campuses are open when spring semester classes begin the week of January 29.

Examples of damage to the campuses includes:

SDCCE - César E. Chávez Campus (Barrio Logan):

• Bottom floors of parking structure were completely flooded
• Elevator is inoperable as is one of the stairwells
• Computer lab floor and walls were flooded, with all computers and monitors a total loss

SDCCE - Education Cultural Campus (Mountain View):

• Flooding in the foyer, student services and lounge area, welding space, culinary arts area, and several classrooms

SDCCE - Mid City Campus (City Heights):

• Several ceiling cave-ins/leaks

SDCCE – at Mesa College (Clairemont/Linda Vista):

• Flooding in multiple hallways and classrooms

San Diego Miramar College (Mira Mesa)

• Several large roof leaks and hallway flooding across the campus  
• Some water intrusion on window ledges and classroom flooring
• Two areas of significant pooling water outside of buildings

San Diego City College (East Village)

• Several ceiling leaks throughout the campus
• Flooding in the bookstore and adjacent areas
• Water seeping in from outside walls in several areas

San Diego Mesa College (Clairemont/Linda Vista)

• Multiple roof, hallway, and classroom leaks
• Flooding in one of the men’s restrooms and locker room
• Flooding in one of the women’s restrooms

The SDCCD serves approximately 80,000 students, including 20,000 students at SDCCE many of whom are immigrants from low-income communities. Some of these students don’t have access to online education at home and the storm not only impacted their campuses, but also their homes.

Classes are scheduled to resume for the upcoming semester on January 29 at the credit colleges and January 31 for SDCCE. Despite continuing repairs, district officials say they will be ready to serve all enrolled students. SDCCE was able to move many classes online through Hyflex which allowed students to attend their classes online during the in-person closures.

The San Diego Community College District is a vital component of the city’s local education system, serving students by providing high-quality, affordable education, and providing extensive career readiness training. The district is currently evaluating the extent of the damage and will be reaching out for support from the state in efforts to recover and repair these critical facilities.