Residents Oppose Putting High School Near Houses

Residents of Oxnard’s Summerfield and River Ridge developments showed up Wednesday at an Oxnard Union High School District public hearing to oppose moving Oxnard High School to a site near their houses.

Last month, flyers were passed around to 800 residents in the two developments, saying a high school attracts drugs, gangs, crime, graffiti, development and traffic. About 40 people turned out Wednesday, most of whom argued against putting the school on agricultural land.

“I don’t mind young people,” Edwin Young said. “I’m not concerned about crime. If I were concerned about crime, I would not have moved to Oxnard. . . . Don’t put a school in the middle of nowhere and hope development will be built up around it.”

Other residents have called the opposition racially motivated and said that those opposed to moving the school near the Summerfield and River Ridge tracts do not want minority students in their neighborhoods.

Armando Garcia, a longtime Oxnard resident, addressed concerns about preserving agricultural land: “Where were you when they were putting industry on Rice Road or building St. John’s hospital? No one protested then. Now that it’s close to someone’s house, they’re worried about crime.”

Garcia said the school was far enough from houses that students would not cause problems.

Wednesday’s public hearing was called by the school board to hear more testimony about the site. No decision was made, but school officials say a decision must be made soon for the district to receive funds from an $800-million statewide school construction bond issue that was passed in November. The district expects to receive about $20 million to build the new school.

A 1989-90 report issued by the school shows that Oxnard High School is 48.8% Latino and 37% white. Black students make up 7.5% of the school’s population, and 6.7% of the students are members of other minority groups.

State officials have declared that the old high school site at 5th Street is a safety hazard because it is under the flight path of Oxnard Airport.

Before last week, the district had planned to move the school to an 80-acre site at Patterson and Gonzales roads. Last week, the district proposed another site, a quarter of a mile west on Gonzales.

The location now being considered is in the middle of two eucalyptus groves between Patterson Road and Victoria Avenue. Residents say a school on that parcel would still attract traffic and crime.

Chris Kingsley, who lives near the new school site, said Wednesday: “The homeowners in the area object to a high school in an agricultural area because it’s an urbanization, not that it is a high school.”