Mission Viejo : School to Reopen Despite Arson Fire

Despite an arson fire earlier this summer that gutted a wing of classrooms and caused about $500,000 in damage, students will return to Del Lago Elementary School on schedule today.

On Tuesday, Saddleback Valley Unified School District board members approved a $213,200 contract with Driver-Eddy Construction Co. to rebuild the six classrooms damaged in the fire.

The rebuilding price tag does not include the cost of the many books and other equipment destroyed in the fire or the cost of the cleanup needed to prepare the site for construction, Principal Carole McClelland-Wong said.

Meanwhile, about 180 students in grades four, five and six will start the school year in portable classrooms. In recent weeks, teachers and volunteers have been scrambling to ready the portables for schoolchildren. Volunteers re-shelved scores of books in the campus library, which received some smoke damage, McClelland-Wong said.

“It’s been like a three-ring circus,” she said. “But we just appreciate the help from the district and from the community.”

In one volunteer effort, a former student, Ryan Ball, raised about $650 to buy new file cabinets and math supplies as part of his Eagle Scout community service project, McClelland-Wong added.

District officials have offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to the apprehension of the arsonists, but no arrests have been made. Officials say someone broke through a window and set several small fires in one of the classrooms sometime before 11 p.m. on July 2.

The new classrooms could be finished by late December.