ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Save Some Money, Too

“Space-saver” schools--designed to be built upward rather than outward and to avoid condemnation of residential property--promise to be a welcome innovation. But Santa Ana, in line to have the state’s first such school, must be sure it does not pay too much for the land involved.

A number of observers have questioned paying nearly $22 million for a strip in the Bristol Market Place shopping mall that would accommodate the building. Given depressed real estate prices, the question is a good one, raised even by the author of California’s “space-saver” legislation, state Sen. Leroy Greene (D-Carmichael).

The Santa Ana Unified School District needs to be more forthcoming about the proposed purchase. Merely saying that the price reflects an appraisal is insufficient, because there are questions about the assumptions in that appraisal. Nor is it right to say that the state, which will foot the entire bill for the school’s land, will scrutinize the deal and thereby prevent overpayment. The school district must do its part, even if another governmental entity is paying, because the taxpayers ultimately bear the cost.

The proposed school, which will have a ground-level garage and two floors of classrooms above for 1,300 middle-school students, has been controversial. Some neighbors object to the prospect of increased traffic, noise and numerous teen-agers in the mall. The school board rightly approved the project, but it and the state should be ready to renegotiate or even look elsewhere if the cost proves unjustified.