School Site to Be Graded After 4 Years Delays

The Montebello school board has decided to proceed with plans for a new elementary and intermediate school after four years of delays caused by legal wrangling and debates about safety at the 15-acre site in an industrial area in southeast Commerce.

The board made its decision Thursday after an engineering firm said in a preliminary report that soil at the site does no contain dangerous levels of contaminants. Construction is contingent on voter approval of a state bond issue in November, but the district still plans to grade the site and build school annex of portable classrooms to house 600 to 900 students at Bell Gardens High School.