Committee to Ponder Use of Three Campuses

A Huntington Beach City School District special committee will meet Wednesday to discuss possible uses for three school sites it is recommending the district board declare surplus.

The sites up for discussion are LeBard school on Yorktown Avenue, Gisler school on Strathmoor Street and Burke school on Queens Park Lane. A final decision on whether they should be declared surplus is pending a public hearing this month.

The committee was convened in the fall by the board of trustees to examine the possibility of selling one of the district’s sites. The issue has divided the board for months.

Three of the five board members support the sale of one of the three sites. Trustees Robert Mann and Shirley Carey oppose it. The board needs at least a two-thirds majority vote to authorize the sale of district property.

Supporters say the sale could help the district get matching funds from the state for school modernization and repairs.

“We need more than $40 million in repairs,” trustee Catherine McGough said.

McGough said the district must come up with $3 million to get $12 million from the state. That’s $3 million the district doesn’t have, she said.

The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the conference room of the district headquarters, 20451 Craimer Lane.

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Andrew Wainer can be reached at (714) 965-7172, Ext. 15.