‘Space Saver’ School Gets Trustees’ OK : Education: State will pay $43 million to build model facility, to be several stories high on a small tract behind a Santa Ana shopping mall. Approval on 3-2 vote ends an emotional debate.

After almost two hours of emotional debate, the school board narrowly approved building a state-funded, $43-million “space saver” school at the back of Bristol Marketplace.

“I think we have a responsibility to house these children in adequate schools,” Trustee Robert W. Balen said before the vote. “The site is not perfect, but we can make it work. We have a real risk of losing this money for our neighborhood schools, and I am not willing to take that risk.”

Space saver schools are built vertically, with several stories, instead of taking up large areas with single-floor buildings. The idea behind them, school officials said, is to add schools without condemning private property in dense cities with little room for new development.

The school will house 1,300 students and serve as a model for other urban school districts throughout the state, officials said.

The board made its decision Wednesday night during a special meeting held at the City Council chambers. More than 150 people attended, many of them wearing badges supporting the project.

Earlier this month, during a public hearing that lasted until 2 a.m., hundreds of parents on both sides of the issue debated the project’s potential impact.

Proponents argued that being awarded the state funding to build the school was equivalent to winning the lottery. Many urged the district to seize the opportunity to alleviate rampant overcrowding in a school district that serves 49,000 students.

Opponents blasted the concept of placing a school behind the shopping mall at Bristol and 17th streets, saying that the plan would be too costly and potentially unsafe, and that other sites would better serve the community. Other residents complained that the project would clog traffic, promote vandalism, cause too much noise and provide too little space in which students could play.

Wednesday night’s vote by the board of the Santa Ana Unified School District was 3 to 2, with Balen, Sal Mendoza and Audrey Yamagata-Noji in favor. Trustees Rosemarie Avila and Tom Chaffee voted against the project.

Avila called for a delay to study other possible sites for the project, saying that “so many decisions are made based on where the money is, and not whether it’s good or bad for the children.”

Roberta Cast, who lives north of the proposed project, condemned the site as “a terrible place for a school.” The board, she said, was motivated by “the almighty dollar. They’re not thinking about the safety of the children.”

But district Supt. Rudy Castruita praised the board’s decision, saying: “It gives (the children) hope that they’ll have a new facility right here in the middle of town that they’ll have access to. I’m delighted.”

Lucila Avina, 33, president of the bilingual district activity council, said, “We’re very happy because we think it’s the best decision for the children, and to have a better community. Our children are tomorrow’s future, and if we don’t have more schools, our children will be the ones who suffer.”