OXNARD : Hearing to Focus on Moving High School

The Oxnard Union High School District will hold a public hearing tonight on a controversial proposal to relocate Oxnard High School.

State officials have declared the old 5th Street site, under the flight path of Oxnard Airport, a safety hazard.

Until last week, the district planned to move the school to an 80-acre site at Patterson and Gonzales roads. But some residents of the nearby Summerfield and River Ridge housing tracts complained that a high school would increase crime and traffic.

Last week, the district proposed another site a quarter of a mile west on Gonzales. The location now being considered, in the middle of two eucalyptus groves midway between Patterson and Victoria Avenue, was offered as a school site last year as part of a residential and commercial development that was rejected under the city’s General Plan.

In a statement last week, officials said the site will preserve the agricultural view for nearby residents and separate farming from school activities.

But some residents remain opposed to relocating the school, saying a school on the 80-acre parcel would still attract traffic and crime.

However, other residents called the opposition racially motivated and argued that residents opposed to relocating school near the Summerfield and River Ridge tracts do not want minority students going through their neighborhoods.

The 7 p.m. hearing will be held in the district’s board room at 309 South K St.