HUNTINGTON BEACH : School’s Out and Homes Are In

John B. Bushard Elementary School has finally met its date with the wrecking ball.

Demolition is underway at the closed school to make way for 58 single-family homes.

The Fountain Valley School District recently finalized the sale of the 10-acre site to the Presley Cos. for about $5 million.

“We’ve been looking forward to this for so long,” said Catherine Hacker, school board president.

“It’s great to see this come to fruition and that we’re finally going to get some money for the kids in the district. We’ve been putting off deferred maintenance. Now we can finally start to paint some of the schools and put on new roofs.”

Assistant Supt. Marc Ecker said it’s exciting to see the school buildings finally come tumbling down: “The goal is to position this district into a financial situation where it can endow the future of our kids. So this is a step.”

Proceeds from the property sale will be used not only for deferred maintenance but for capital improvement projects that may include new school furniture, science labs and other modernization projects, Ecker said.

In recent years, residents near the closed school, at 19699 Education Lane in Huntington Beach, have complained that the property was an eyesore, a constant target of vandalism and graffiti.

Ecker said it is expected that the homes--priced in the high $200,000 to low $300,000 range--will be available by next summer.