Santa Clarita Schools All Seek Fees on New Homes

The five school districts in the fast-growing Santa Clarita Valley all will ask voters to impose special fees on developers, averaging about $6,000 for each new residential unit, to help build new schools.

Trustees of the Castaic Union, Newhall and Sulphur Springs Union elementary school districts and the William S. Hart Union High School District approved Nov. 4 ballot measures on the special tax after public hearings Wednesday night. The Saugus Board of Education voted Tuesday night to place the tax measure on the ballot.

The measures will require the approval of two-thirds of the voters in each district to be enacted.

Gordon G. Getchel, a consultant hired by the districts, said that the Santa Clarita Valley now has roughly 10,000 students enrolled in kindergarten through sixth grade and that the number will grow to 16,000 within 10 years--requiring about 10 new elementary schools. The area will need a new high school and a new junior high school within five years, Getchel said.

The Santa Clarita Valley’s population is expected to almost double to 200,000 within 15 years.

The amount of the proposed tax, which is lower than school officials originally estimated, differs in each district depending on its needs. The Castaic Union District, which has had the highest rate of growth, will ask for a tax of $3,783 for each new residential unit. Rates for the other elementary school districts are: Newhall, $2,542; Saugus, $2,861, and Sulphur Springs Union, $2,000.

Opposition Expected

In addition, the Hart high school district, which serves the entire area, is asking for $3,439 per residential unit in the Newhall, Saugus and Sulphur Springs school district attendance areas and $2,418 in the Castaic area.

Supt. Clyde Smyth said Hart trustees set the lower rate for Castaic because that district educates kindergarten through eighth grade students while the other districts have only kindergarten through sixth grades.

Developers are expected to oppose the ballot measures. The Governmental Affairs Council, the lobbying arm of the Building Industry Assn., sent letters to all five districts objecting to the proposed taxes.

Gloria Casvin, a vice president of Newhall Land and Farming Co., said if the tax is imposed, it will probably be passed on to new home buyers.

Hart Supt. Clyde Smyth said the special tax is “a safety net” in the event the state does not provide sufficient funds for new schools.