OXNARD : District Drops Plan for 2 Middle Schools

The Oxnard Elementary School District board has decided that it will not switch to a middle school system as planned because it would be too expensive.

The school board during its meeting Tuesday night also unanimously voted to raise developer fees to help pay for school construction projects.

The five-member panel decided to reverse a decision that it made last summer to convert Fremont and Haydock intermediate schools, which include only seventh- and eighth-grade classes, to middle schools, which would have added sixth-grade classes. It also designated the new Frank School, scheduled to open in 1994, as an intermediate school.

School officials said they had little choice but to abandon the middle school plan because of the district’s fast-growing student population.

A middle school system would have required the district to build a new middle school within five years to accommodate all of the incoming sixth-graders. School officials said they preferred to build another elementary school because it would be significantly cheaper.

In other action Tuesday, the board approved an increase in the fees it levies on residential developers from $1.65 to $2.65 per square foot of construction.

The district shares fees it collects with the Oxnard Union High School District. The elementary district receives 55% of the fees collected, with the remainder going to the high school district.

Last year, the elementary district collected about $700,000 in developer fees, officials said. With the new fee increase, the district could generate an extra $400,000 a year, depending on how much development occurs, officials said.