CAMARILLO : Money Lacking for School, District Says

Camarillo school officials say they don’t have the money to build the school off Pleasant Valley Road that is shown on architectural plans drawn up for The Sammis Co.

Calthorpe Associates Inc. of San Francisco has drafted three plans for a 250-acre parcel off Pleasant Valley Road, which includes 87 Sammis-owned acres. Each plan shows a new elementary school, 900 to 1,200 homes, recreational facilities and small stores.

“While a school site may be great to show on the plans, we can’t afford to build that school,” Pleasant Valley School District Trustee Jan McDonald said at last week’s board meeting.

Supt. Shirley F. Carpenter told McDonald that school staff members already have warned Sammis about the financial constraints of the district.

Voters rejected two bond measures last year--for $55 million and $75 million--that would have been used to renovate the district’s 13 schools and build a new elementary school. District officials have since been deliberating over ways to handle the crowding that is projected to worsen as the city continues to grow.

Calthorpe architects have suggested using Mello-Roos bond money to finance construction of a new school on the 250-acre site. This would involve assessing a tax from each homeowner whose children would attend the new school.

Calthorpe was hired by Sammis to draw up plans for a citizens committee that is charged with developing an alternative to a factory outlet mall for the Sammis land off Pleasant Valley Road.