WESTMINSTER : District to Consider Selling Two Schools

The Westminster School District Board of Trustees will discuss the possible sale or lease of two schools at a meeting tonight.

Supt. Gail Wickstrom has recommended the sale of Midway City Elementary School, at 8521 Hazard Ave., and the site of the former Gill School, at 15252 Victoria Lane, in Huntington Beach.

Revenue from the sale would be used for maintenance work at the district’s other schools.

Gill shut in 1976 and has been leased to the County Board of Education, which has used it to teach special education students. The school district now receives $63,200 annually in lease and maintenance payments from the county for using the 10-acre site, said spokeswoman Audrey Brown. The school was built in 1962 for 500 students.

The Midway City campus was recommended for closure in 1989 by a community advisory committee based on enrollment projections and refurbishing costs. Midway city staff and students will move to the newly renovated Hayden School in September, Wickstrom said.

The Midway City campus is zoned by the city of Westminster for school use, and zoning would have to be changed before other development could be considered. If it should be designated for residential use, the site could accommodate about 60 homes, Brown said.

Gill School is zoned by the city of Huntington Beach for single-family housing, and the site could accommodate up to 48 houses.

The board will consider selling the properties at the meeting, which will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the district board room, 14121 Cedarwood Ave., Westminster.

Revenue Possibilities Westminster School District may sell or lease two school sites.