SANTA ANA : Meeting to Focus on ‘Space Saver’ School

Hundreds of residents are expected to attend an informational meeting tonight to discuss the controversial $43-million “space saver” school proposed by the Santa Ana Unified School District.

Supt. Rudy Castruita will make a presentation about the project, and the audience will be invited to ask questions.

The meeting, sponsored by several neighborhood associations, will be held at First Christian Church, 1720 W. 17th St., from 7 to 9 p.m.

Having received a state grant to pay for the entire project, district officials hope to build a 98,000-square-foot building at the rear of Bristol Market Place, at 17th and Bristol streets. The project would accommodate 1,300 students from the sixth through eighth grades, said Mike Vail, senior director of facilities.

By the year 2000, local intermediate schools will house about 5,000 more students than they were designed for. Even with the addition of the planned Raymond A. Villa Intermediate School and the Bristol Street campus, the number of intermediate students would still exceed designed capacities by about 2,400 students, Vail said.

Recognizing the district’s need to reduce crowding, state officials awarded the district $43 million for a space-saver school to be built at the Bristol Market Place site.

Vail said space-saver projects use available land to avoid the use of eminent domain, through which the district could force people or businesses to sell property. Space-saver also refers to the architecture: The school would be several stories and would use less ground space than usual.

While most residents agree that the district must build more schools, some say the site was poorly chosen because the heavily trafficked area may not be safe for children, and the school will add to the congestion. They also question whether businesses at the mall would be hurt by the influx of children.

The district will hold a special board meeting on Feb. 1 to describe the proposal in detail and get comments from the public. The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. at Phillips Hall on the Rancho Santiago College campus, at 17th and Bristol streets.