OXNARD : New High School to Cost $25 Million

The Oxnard Union High School District has unveiled plans for a $25-million high school at the intersection of Oxnard Boulevard and Gonzales Road.

The first of five new schools the district plans to build over the next 20 years, Northeast High School is expected to ease crowding in the district, Business Manager Bob Brown said.

With 85 classrooms in seven buildings, the new school is designed to hold 2,250 students. There are 11,000 students enrolled in the district’s five high schools, Brown said.

The school is expected to be open for the 1993-94 school year. The project will be funded by the state Board of Education, which approved the new school in December.

However, the project may be delayed if voters fail to approve an $800-million bond issue in the June election, Brown said.

“We’re anticipating that Proposition 123 will pass without any problem, but if it doesn’t we’ll just have to address that problem when it comes up,” he said.

Meanwhile, the district is conducting an environmental impact report on the 50-acre agricultural site selected by school officials. Negotiations to purchase the site, which is owned by the Hartman Family Trust, are expected to begin later this summer, Brown said.

The new school is the first to be built since Rio Mesa High School opened in 1965. With a cultural arts facility and meeting rooms, the school will also function as a community center, he said.

In other action, the Board of Education tentatively supported a plan to convert Hueneme High School to a four-quarter system that would lengthen the school day by 30 minutes.

Board members said they liked the idea but wanted to know more details before approving the proposal. Under the plan, students would take four 90-minute classes a day, rather than six 55-minute classes. The school year would be divided into four quarters instead of two semesters.

“Such a major change has vast implications for the contract we signed with teachers,” said Janet Lindgren, board member. The board will consider the proposal June 6.

School officials say the change in the semester system would benefit youngsters of migrant families who often leave school at midterm. Instead of waiting 18 weeks to begin a new semester, students could begin a new quarter in nine weeks.