Local News in Brief : School Headquarters to Move

Beset by declining enrollment and dwindling revenues, the South Bay Union High School District plans to close its central headquarters and move the staff to a converted warehouse on the Redondo Union High School campus.

Deputy Supt. Ed King said the district expects to lease the 11,000-square-foot, 2-story headquarters building at Pacific Coast Highway and Vincent Street to the city of Redondo Beach, adding about $100,000 a year to the district’s $16-million budget.

Enrollment dropped from a high of 7,200 students in the early 1970s to the current level of about 3,000. King said the downward trend should level out at 2,500 students by 1992. The district closed one of its three campuses, Aviation High, in 1982, and has reduced its headquarters staff from 26 to 16 in the last three years, he said.

The downstairs portion of the headquarters has been rented to the city’s Community Development Department since August. The city may move its engineering section to the second floor, King said. Terms of the rental deal must be approved by the City Council and school trustees, he said.