PLACENTIA/YORBA LINDA : High Schools Expected to Need More Space

With enrollment at both El Dorado and Esperanza high schools projected to rise in the next four years, school officials say they plan to add as many as five new classrooms at each site to accommodate the increase.

The new classrooms are part of a multiphase project to expand the district’s high school capacity in anticipation of increasing enrollment.

A master facilities plan for the schools predicts an enrollment peak of about 3,000 students at Esperanza by 2000. District officials say there is a “bubble” of students in the elementary and middle schools that feed into Esperanza.

“The bubble is just beginning to enter Esperanza, and over the next four years we should see consistent growth there,” said Mike Bailey, director of planning.

At El Dorado, enrollment is expected to grow to 2,000 in two years. If development of the Shell Oil project in the northern part of the district proceeds as planned, enrollment at El Dorado should grow to 2,200 by the year 2000, Bailey said.

About 150 more students are expected at Esperanza next year, Bailey said, and 125 at El Dorado.

The cost of adding the classrooms would be about $250,000 at each campus. Because of financial uncertainties created by the county’s failed investment pool, however, the district may opt to lease portable buildings for about $6,000 per classroom each year.