Private School Sues Districts Over Loss of Subleased Space
The Waldorf Community School has sued two school districts, alleging they reneged on the school’s contract to operate on a public school campus.
Named as defendants are the Newport-Mesa Unified School District and Coast Community College District. The private Waldorf school has subleased space at the Eastbluff Elementary School since August 1993, paying Newport-Mesa $63,000 annually, according to the suit.
Eastbluff, which is no longer used by elementary students, is leased by Coast Community College District, which subleases to Waldorf. According to the lawsuit, earlier this year both Newport-Mesa and Coast agreed to extend Waldorf’s lease through 2002.
But last month, Coast officials informed the Waldorf school they were revoking the sublease “because Newport-Mesa would not consent to a multiyear sublease between Coast and the Waldorf school,” said the lawsuit.
Newport-Mesa is considering reopening Eastbluff to accommodate new students from Bonita Village, an area being developed off MacArthur Boulevard.
Newport-Mesa and Coast officials could not be reached for comment Monday evening.
The Waldorf school offers instruction for children in kindergarten through the eighth grade and has an enrollment of about 200.
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