District Still Hopes to Develop School Land

Plans to develop 4.7 acres of John F. Kennedy High School’s sports fields are moving forward despite the recent election of two City Council members who oppose the development.

The Anaheim Union High School District has received about 10 proposals from developers interested in building single-family homes on a portion of the high school’s 45 acres, said Jean Hockett, business administrative assistant for the district.

The development would be along Crescent Avenue near Walker Street, where the tennis courts and the south end of the track are.

District officials will bring the top three proposals to the board for consideration, but a date has not been set yet, Hockett said.

The money from either a sale or lease would be used to finance such major repairs to the school as rewiring the electrical system, building an auditorium and rebuilding the aboveground pool, which was condemned two years ago.

“They really don’t have a multipurpose-type room or an auditorium, and the kids have to travel to another school to participate in the swimming and water polo programs,” board member Joanne L. Stanton said. “The money is going to stay right there in La Palma.”

Stanton said the district received positive responses from the community and City Council when the development was first suggested about five years ago.

“We’re sort of taking a re-educating type of approach,” she said. “We’ll be working with them and it may take some re-educating or looking at other options. But if they’re adamantly against it, then we probably won’t be able to do anything.”