School Leasing Crisis Eased

Supt. Thomas W. Payzant’s recommendation that the San Diego Unified School District board abandon its intention to lease certain closed school sites for up to 99 years should ease some of the tension that has developed between the district and both the City Council and residents of some neighborhoods.

At the heart of the controversial school leasing program is the district’s need to earn revenue from sites it does not now need so it can build new facilities in the growing areas of the city. Despite an advisory committee’s recommendation that none of the properties be leased for more than 25 years, the board had hoped to lease the now-closed Dana Junior High School in Point Loma and Farnum Elementary in Pacific Beach to developers for 99 years. This angered residents of those neighborhoods, who did not want to see the school grounds turned into condominiums. It also created friction with City Council members, who are responsible for controlling development.

Now Payzant, recognizing the political realities of the situation, has proposed changing the leasing policy to preclude the kinds of long-term leases that would allow residential development. One lesson of this controversy is that, in these times when nearly all government units are hard-pressed to come up with the funds they need to carry out their missions, the citizenry is taking a larger view of public assets. Schools double as park space and community meeting rooms, and they keep neighborhoods from being quite so congested.

It may be fine to replace a school with a library, park or other community facility, but not so fine to plunk condos down there.

The 25-year limit also makes sense because it guarantees that the school district will still own the properties down the road when demographic patterns may have shifted again and more families with children return to neighborhoods where schools are now closed.