OXNARD : High School Move on Council Agenda

The Oxnard City Council at its meeting Tuesday will consider recommending that Oxnard High School be relocated to a site at the northeast end of the city, rather than the northwest area as now planned.

A letter, drafted by the council’s staff, states that such a move would be preferable because the district is already in the process of acquiring the northeast site for a future high school campus. The district has already committed $9 million to purchase the property, but its plans for the new campus were stalled when voters rejected a school bond measure in April.

“It seems prudent to relocate Oxnard High School to the northeast site,” the letter states. “In this manner, the board would maximize fiscal resources and avoid the cost of acquiring two sites, one of which will remain undeveloped for an indefinite amount of time.”

Mayor Nao Takasugi declined to comment on the letter because he said he had not seen it.

School officials said it is not possible to relocate Oxnard High School to the northeast site because it would put funding for the project in jeopardy. The site is located south of Gonzales Road between Oxnard Boulevard and Rose Avenue.

“We’re not playing chess,” said school board member Jean Daily. “Just because the city thinks we can move sites doesn’t mean we can.”

Daily said the state has already approved funding to relocate Oxnard High School to a site at the northwest end of the city near the Gonzales Road and Victoria Avenue intersection. She said the district’s efforts to acquire the northeast site is a separate issue.

The district has been planning to relocate Oxnard High School since 1990, when state officials declared its present site unsafe because of its proximity to Oxnard Airport.