SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Potential Site for High School OKd
With one new high school under construction, trustees in the Capistrano Unified School District this week approved a tentative site for yet another campus, which would be the fifth in the fast-growing district.
In a unanimous vote, trustees identified a 50-acre Chiquita Canyon site near Rancho Santa Margarita, just south of Oso Parkway and west of the planned Foothill Transportation Corridor, as a potential site for a new high school.
Next fall, the district plans to open Aliso Niguel High School in Aliso Viejo, the fourth high school in the district of 30,000 students.
By the 1997-98 school year, high school enrollment is expected to increase from about 7,500 to more than 10,000 students, creating the need for a fifth high school, district officials said.
Before final decisions are made on the Chiquita Canyon site, the district will need to spend about $150,000 to $200,000 on environmental, planning and soils studies, said William F. Dawson, assistant superintendent of facilities and support services.
Money for the studies will come from developers’ fees and special Mello-Roos tax funds levied against property owners in the area of the potential school site. The fees and tax funds can only be used toward building new schools.
District officials say the new high school could open as early as September, 1997, although it’s more likely it would open in 1998 or 1999.
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