Anaheim Growth Plan OKd, Despite School Criticism

Despite heated criticism from local school leaders, the City Council approved a long-awaited management plan Tuesday night for future commercial and residential growth in the city.

The plan, compiled over the past three years, was sharply challenged by school officials who said it does not adequately address the effect of continued residential growth on already-crowded classrooms.

In a statement before the council, Meliton Lopez, superintendant of the Anaheim City School District, asked that future residential developments be approved only if adequate school facilities are made available.

The superintendant said school district enrollment surpasses its 12,800 capacity by nearly 3,000 pupils.

Those figures, he said, do not include children who would come from nearly 10,000 homes recently approved for development in the city’s eastern hills.

“If left unabated, the current overcrowded conditions in our schools will certainly affect the long-term ability of the district to provide quality education to the children of Anaheim,” Lopez said.

The city’s plan, which also addressed the need for continued growth of city services such as fire and police protection, indicated that much of the city’s housing stock in western and central Anaheim needs renovation.