Huntington Beach Getting a New School

A moderate development boom and an expected increase in the student population spurred the Huntington Beach City school board Tuesday to approve construction of its first elementary school in 25 years.

Huntington Seacliff School, on 8.8 acres at the northwest corner of Garfield Avenue and Saddleback Lane, will enroll 600 children in kindergarten through fifth grades. Builder fees on new homes will pay the $6.75-million cost of purchasing and developing the property.

“There’s a lot of developing going on,” said Catherine McGough, a member of the Huntington Beach City School District Board of Trustees.

“The idea is to take title as soon as possible, start construction and have the school ready by fall 1999.”

As new homes are built, the 6,389-student district expects to add 750 students in coming years, said Jerry Buchanan, assistant superintendent of administrative services for the district. Most of those students will be elementary school age.

Buchanan said the district has grown 1% to 2% a year since the mid-1980s but may experience a greater increase with all the construction in the area.

District trustees first approved Seacliff School in 1992 but delayed building it until development picked up, the economy improved and the Orange County bankruptcy was resolved. Now there’s a pressing need for the new campus.

“We made the determination that we needed a school by September 1999, so it was essential that we put this to bed as soon as possible,” Buchanan said.

The school will stand two stories, a rarity for Orange County elementary sites.