Solutions Sought for Overcrowding of Proposed School

The architect’s rendering shows Running Springs Elementary as a modern complex ready to hold the hundreds of children pouring into new developments in Anaheim Hills.

There’s just one problem: If the school were built tomorrow, it already would be overcrowded.

Orange Unified School District trustees will discuss the issue at their meeting Thursday, although they are expected to postpone any action until after a workshop on the issue April 30.

The blueprint for Running Springs is an exact replica of Canyon Rim Elementary School, which opened last year to overflowing classes.

The architect planned for foundations to hold as many as eight portable classrooms, but trustees and parents are questioning if it is wise to build a school that is undersized from the first day.

Options include adding a wing onto the main building or building a wing behind the school. Doing either could add $1 million to the budget and might require sending plans back for state approval, a move that could delay the July 1999 opening another year, Planning Director Bill Flory said.

A Mello-Roos tax district has collected $6 million for Running Springs, nearly all of which is budgeted.

But trustees said they want other options presented.

“I feel like I’m being railroaded into going one way,” Trustee Kathy Ward said.

The meeting Thursday begins at 7:30 p.m. at district headquarters, 1401 N. Handy St.

Information: (714) 997-6221.