FOUNTAIN VALLEY : District Says Company Has Agreed to Buy Bushard School Site

Fountain Valley School District Board of Trustees President Catherine Hacker has announced that the district agreed to sell a closed school site for $5.6 million.

Hacker said the district has entered into an agreement with The Presley Co., Southern California division, to buy the John B. Bushard School site in Huntington Beach.

“We’re hoping it will be a good partnership--and our district will finally benefit from some cash,” Hacker said last week.

She said the money from the property sale will be used for deferred maintenance needs at school sites.

“We need so many things fixed on our campuses . . . roof repairs, desks and carpet replaced,” she said. “We can utilize that money to benefit the kids.”

The project already has city approvals for 58 single-family homes at the site.

Late last year, the district had hoped to sell the 10-acre site to a housing developer for $5.7 million. But the developer backed out of the deal because of soil problems.

Prior to that, the district had entered into a joint venture with another developer. But that deal fell through because the developer failed to secure financing for the project.

Marc Ecker, district assistant superintendent of business administration, said that The Presley Co. is aware of the peat problem on the property, in which soil would have to be imported and compacted on the site before homes are built.

The agreement, however, gives the developer 60 days to conduct its own studies on the site before the sale is finalized.