Two Schools Added to Building Plans

Two schools and more classrooms--to relieve crowding and cope with increasing enrollment--were added to the San Diego Unified School District’s long-range building program Tuesday.

School trustees voted, 5 to 0, to include plans for a new elementary school near downtown San Diego, a new primary school in Barrio Logan and more classrooms at San Diego and Morse high schools as part of an annual update of a master building plan that runs through 2000. But actual construction of any of the projects is uncertain because the district estimates it is at least $90 million short of the $402 million it would take to accomplish all long-range building plans.

The new schools and classroom additions would cost almost $30 million, on top of projects already listed in the master plan. They would be part of a permanent solution for the severe crowding that plagues many Southeast and mid-city schools.

Last month, trustees approved spending close to $4 million for a series of short-term actions to cope with crowding during the next three to five years. The actions call for installing portable classrooms and reopening campuses in under-enrolled areas, which would be filled by busing in students.

The school board also approved forming citizen committees to work with administrators in the Mira Mesa and Hoover high school areas, which face increasing enrollments, to come up with recommendations by summer for new facilities. The district would then rank all proposed construction in terms of importance, as money does become available.