LAGUNA BEACH : School District to Seek Bids to Rebuild 14 Classrooms

Despite a still-cloudy financial picture, the Laguna Beach Unified School District board has decided to seek bids to rebuild 14 classrooms burned in the October, 1993, firestorm.

School officials say the action gives the district the opportunity to nail down costs and at least begin the rebuilding process.

With $1.5 million in insurance money for the project still frozen in the bankrupt county’s investment pool, board members are taking the optimistic approach. In essence, they are assuming that over the next three months, the financial crisis may be resolved to the point that they will be able to withdraw the money to begin building.

By not acting, school officials say they are losing money as construction costs rise and the district continues to pay $5,600 monthly to rent the portable classrooms that replaced the burned buildings.

“Worst-case scenario, (we) spend $300 in advertising costs and still don’t have a resolution from the Board of Supervisors regarding the bankruptcy,” Terry Bustillos, the district’s chief financial officer, said Thursday.

Cheryl Baughn, Thurston’s principal, called Tuesday night’s 4-0 vote “an important step in the right direction.”

“I know it is the intent of the district to rebuild the classrooms lost in the firestorm, and I am confident that will be done as soon as possible without putting the district in financial jeopardy,” she said.

The district had expected to award the contract for the Thurston project in January, at which time officials projected the cost at $2.8 million, Bustillos said.

But because of rising costs, engineers now estimate that the project will cost $2.96 million, he said. School officials fear the costs will continue to rise.