District Sees Need for 680 More Classrooms

Student enrollment in the Santa Ana Unified School District is expected to increase by 22,000 students by the year 2000, requiring the district to construct more than 680 new classrooms, according to a study to be presented to the school board later this month.

Santa Ana Unified administrators presented a preview of the study last week to officials from the city and neighboring school districts to point out the dire need for new and improved schools in Santa Ana.

“We are facing a severe facilities crisis in one of the fastest-growing districts in the state,” said Mike Vail, senior facilities director for Santa Ana Unified.

The Santa Ana Unified, Garden Grove Unified and Rancho Santiago Community College districts have submitted preliminary “wish lists” of projects that could be funded through a proposed 30-year redevelopment program for schools within the city limits. The Tustin Unified and Orange Unified districts, which slightly overlap Santa Ana’s boundaries, have not yet drawn up project lists.

City officials have estimated that $1.5 billion in redevelopment funds could be generated over the next 30 years through the sale of bonds. Additional revenue from resale of city property expected to increase in value would go to the city Redevelopment Agency to repay the bond debt.

Santa Ana Unified’s first list of projects includes 12 new schools and other improvements expected to cost $142.2 million. But Vail said that could increase by at least another $28 million.

The demographics report shows that the current districtwide enrollment of 46,064 is expected to increase to 68,104 by the turn of the century, with half of that growth occurring in kindergarten through fifth grade.

In presenting his district’s list of needed improvements, Garden Grove Supt. Ed Dundon said he was in a quandary over whether to ask for projects that benefit only Santa Ana students but not the 80% of the district’s students who live outside Santa Ana.

Using air conditioning as an example, Dundon said the board of trustees could decide not to install it in the Santa Ana schools if it cannot be done districtwide.

“If we treat our schools in your city like we treat our schools in our city, that should be enough,” Dundon said as he submitted a request for one new elementary school plus $9 million in improvements.

The community college’s list totaled $75 million for new facilities and repairs at the Santa Ana campus and at its educational center.