Newhall Land Promises $40 Million for 4 Elementary Schools

The Newhall Land & Farming Co. has agreed to spend $40 million on elementary schools for the company’s future housing projects in the Saugus Union School District, without waiting to see whether the state will share the cost, it was announced Wednesday.

Under its agreement with the school district, Newhall Land will provide land and funds to build four schools without receiving guarantees that the state will cover a portion of the costs, which it has historically done, according to Saugus district officials.

For its part, the district agreed to continue lobbying the state’s Lease Purchase Program in an effort to reimburse Newhall Land for 50% of the project’s cost.

If the district is unsuccessful, the company has agreed to foot the entire bill.

“We are assuming all the risk ourselves,” said Marlee Lauffer, spokeswoman for the company. “This agreement demonstrates our long-standing commitment to schools.”

The negotiations between the district and Newhall Land began last fall, and the deal is very similar to one the company struck with the Newhall School District last year, according to Arthur Clark, assistant superintendent of the Saugus district.

Under the mitigation agreement with the district for the 15,000 housing units that Newhall Land is proposing to build inside its boundaries, the company will lease land for the schools to the district and pay for their construction. The district will pay their operating costs.

In the past, the state provided matching funds for new schools, but Sacramento has become reluctant to help in recent years, Clark said. The district has promised Newhall Land that it will continue seeking those funds.

“We believe when the state recoups from its economic slump, there will be more money available,” Lauffer said.

The district was quick to praise the company and said the agreement is a testament to the company’s philosophy on education.

“We are extremely pleased that [Newhall Land] values schools,” Clark said. “They have backed up their concern by providing much-needed funds.”

But in Newhall Land’s ongoing negotiations with the William S. Hart Union High School District, the company, which is also negotiating with the Castaic Union School District, has offered too few dollars to pay for things like football fields, library books and theaters, Hart Supt. Robert Lee said in an interview last year.

Not so for the four future elementary schools, according to Clark. He said that Newhall Land is providing more funds for items such as computers and furniture than the district has received in negotiations with other developers.

“These schools will be state-of-the-art,” Clark said. “If people ask why Newhall Land is doing this, the fact is that these schools will help sell houses.”