San Diego ISD Board Meets Again Over Collapsed Multi-Purpose Facility

Four months after a $3.8 million multi-purpose facility frame buckled and crashed at San Diego High School, the San Diego Independent School District board gathered again March 25 at its administration office on 609 W. Labbe Ave. to continue pressing for answers that contractors have yet to fully deliver.

The collapse happened November 29, 2025, just four days before the construction deadline and after nine months of work by Pentagon Services, the contractor the district hired to complete the project in 290 days starting February 17. Neighbors heard a loud boom as the unfinished steel frame came down. No injuries were reported, but the financial and operational fallout has shadowed every board meeting since.

The facility was funded through a May 2024 bond election, making the failure a direct hit to taxpayer investment. Pentagon Services' contract carried a $1,000-per-day penalty for missing the deadline, though it allowed for weather-related adjustments. Email records obtained through public records requests showed the construction site was described as "entirely too wet to maneuver" in June, and by September, Pentagon had logged 53 rain days since breaking ground. The contractor was still pumping water from the site in late September and in October requested a delivery delay because rain was causing dirt to stick to the frame.

At a public hearing on January 14 at the same board room, Pentagon Services representative Stacy Schiffbauer acknowledged the obvious without providing a definitive cause. "Yeah, the building fell down. Obviously something went wrong," Schiffbauer told trustees. He said the investigation, which covers structural design, manufacturing specifications, erection procedures, and compliance with approved plans, had no completion timeline because the insurance carrier had not yet issued findings. When board trustee Anthony Vela asked whether the district would convene another meeting once the insurance review concluded, Schiffbauer replied: "No, I'm still waiting on the investigation. Until the insurance tells me what they found for the cause, I don't have an answer for that."

Ramiro Muñoz, president of Muñoz Engineering, faced questions about supervision gaps during construction. "In that duration, there is a gap that relies on the PND manufacturer and the erector to do their job," Muñoz said. An engineer present at that hearing also confirmed the structure was missing tail backs, the support braces designed to stabilize the frame, and suggested high winds may have contributed to the failure.

Pentagon Services had pledged to complete the project and cover all associated costs going forward, but the investigation's delay means the district still lacks a formal cause determination, a finalized repair or rebuild timeline, and a resolved insurance claim.

Superintendent Dr. Rodrigo Pena has declined on-camera interviews throughout the process, though the district stated it will require architects, engineers, and contractors to provide all documentation needed to explain the structural failure. The board's March 25 meeting, listed in the district's BoardBook public portal, reflects that scrutiny remains an open and ongoing obligation, not a closed chapter.