Study Ordered on School Sites

The board of the Oxnard Union High School District has directed that a full environmental impact report be prepared on two proposed sites for Oxnard High School.

The report will be done on two sites between Patterson Road and Victoria Avenue, south of Gonzales Road, and will consider any other possible sites, said board President Steve Stocks.

“Based on the input we had, it looks like we should do a more complete EIR,” Stocks said.

At recent public hearings, residents of Oxnard’s Summerfield and River Ridge housing tracts have opposed the relocation of the school to a site near their residences.

Flyers distributed to 800 residences in the two tracts claimed that a high school attracts drugs, gangs, crime, graffiti and traffic.

Chris Kingsley, a Summerfield resident, said he was pleased by the board’s action on Wednesday.

“I’m relieved and very pleased the board and the school staff responded to our concerns,” Kingsley said. “It will answer questions, and that’s all we ever wanted.

School officials say a decision will have to be made soon for the district to receive funding from an $800-million school construction bond issue that was passed in June. The district expects to receive about $23 million for the new school.

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

The report is scheduled to be completed within 100 days, Kingsley said.