School Trustees May Sell 2 Closed Campuses

Hoping to raise cash for technological upgrades and to renovate old campuses, Simi Valley school trustees indicated Monday that they may sell two closed elementary schools, but probably will keep open two others.

During a two-hour evening hearing, the trustees leaned toward selling shuttered Walnut Grove and Belwood elementaries, but said they want to retain Arroyo and Arcane elementaries as school district property.

All four schools have been closed since the enrollment slump of the early 1980s.

But trustees said they still favor keeping Arroyo because the campus playgrounds are used by city recreation programs and Arcane because it is located mid-city where more growth is expected.

“Sell Belwood and Walnut Grove and hold on to Arroyo,” said Trustee Diane Collins.

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The trustees said they were not sure how much the campuses might sell for, but 13-acre Belwood was valued at about $1 million last year when trustees last talked about a sale.

All of the schools have been leased for years to businesses such as private schools and child-care operators.

A representative of one of the leaseholders, Grace Brethren Church, which runs schools at Walnut Grove and Arcane, said the church would like to buy at least one of the school properties.

“We feel a need to secure our future,” said Bruce Zeigler of Grace Brethren.

Likewise, despite a two-year uptick in enrollment, school district officials said they need to sell some of their surplus property.

“We have much of the district resources sitting in vacant or idle properties and we have to convert it to cash flow,” said school board President Norm Walker in an interview.

Dave Kanthak, the district’s assistant superintendent of business services, said considering the sale of excess campuses is necessary since the district needs about $2 million for technological improvements and about $100 million to modernize 26 campuses.

While district schools are stocked with computers, some classrooms do not have enough electrical outlets, Kanthak said.

“All the schools built 30 years ago have only one plug,” he said, “because in those days you didn’t have that many electrical things.”

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All schools, except for Atherwood and Berylwood elementaries, are more than 30 years old and need modernization such as better windows, roofing and cabinetry, Kanthak said.

The district is also considering a redistricting plan to balance out the number of students at each campus.

The district has not pushed a new school bond measure--as have districts throughout the county--because it successfully won a bond measure in 1989, Kanthak said.

The trustees also considered whether to sell the following properties:

* A 35-acre farm at the corner of Tapo Canyon Road and Alamo Street, where homes and offices are proposed.

* The Wood Ranch Conference Center at 222 Country Club Drive.

* Part of the educational services center at the district offices on Cochran Street.

* A 40-acre parcel on Long Canyon.

Trustees will decide what they will do with the properties at today’s school board meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the Simi Valley City Hall Council Chambers.