LOS ALAMITOS : Hearings to Focus on Leasing School Sites

Two public hearings will be held next month to determine which of four Los Alamitos Unified School District properties might be leased to generate income for the district.

The hearings will be held May 11 at Los Alamitos High School Performing Arts Center and May 17 at McGaugh Elementary School in Seal Beach. Each meeting will begin at 7 p.m.

Identified as potential surplus properties are Weaver Elementary, Los Alamitos Elementary-Laurel Park site, the district office-Laurel School site and Oak Middle School, according to board President Keith Polakoff.

Weaver Elementary School in Rossmoor and Oak Middle School in Los Alamitos have been closed since the early 1980s.

Ronald Murrey, district business manager, said that Weaver school is being used as a day-care facility and that parts of Oak school are used by the Los Alamitos Community Services Department.

The district is using the two other sites.

Leasing the properties is one way to provide added revenue, Murrey said. The district expects to lose as much as $1.9 million in state and other revenue next school year.

To plug the expected shortfall, Murrey said, the district may also have to lay off employees.

Of the four properties being considered, the 24-acre Oak Middle School appears to be the most attractive because it is close to Katella Avenue, the city’s major thoroughfare, as well as the San Diego and San Gabriel River freeways.

“From a commercial point of view, it has the most value,” Polakoff said.

A group of parents, however, has formed the Save Oak School coalition to oppose leasing of the facility.

At last week’s board meeting, the group submitted a petition with more than 3,000 signatures, urging the board to retain the school.

The group said a middle school may be necessary in the future because of increasing enrollment.

The district has about 7,000 students. Officials said existing facilities can accommodate about 1,000 more students.