Grant Expected to Expand High School

Moorpark Unified School District has won preliminary approval for a $13.6-million state “hardship” grant to expand Moorpark High School to accommodate almost 1,000 more students, officials said Tuesday.

Supt. Tom Duffy said the money will pay for two new science wings, a new music building, 20 regular classrooms, a new gym and other improvements.

The grant, Duffy said, should end speculation that the district might build a second high school.

“Our plan has never been to have a second high school, but to have other extensions of the Moorpark High School campus,” he said. “But we’re working on an extension of the high school at [Moorpark College] that will create a cooperative effort with our health science learning academies.”

The district also has long-term plans to build a satellite campus for technology and performing arts, Duffy said.

The district, which expects to gain almost 2,000 students in the next five years, has worked for years to find money to expand the high school, said Duffy. Moorpark High now has about 2,200 students.

“This is just fabulous news,” said Pat Jellander, Moorpark High’s assistant principal. “We’re using every spare inch now, so this will provide the relief we need.”

Duffy expects the grant to become official in January, and said construction could begin as soon as school gets out next spring.

The funds will be allocated under a 1998 state law that, among other reforms, allows grants to districts that can prove an urgent need for new classrooms.

If a school district can prove it has exhausted other funding means and is still falling behind in classroom space, the district may be eligible for “hardship” funding, Duffy said.