Neighbors Vow to Fight Sale of Unused School Site

A Huntington Beach City School District committee analyzing the use of three surplus school sites heard a chorus of protest from local residents who want to prevent the sale of what was Gisler Middle School.

About 30 residents, most of them from the Gisler community, warned the committee that they would challenge any attempt to sell the site, which the district closed in 1986.

“We will fight the sale of a school site at the district and at the city,” resident Bryan Bullette said.

Bullette said the sale of the site would be “irresponsible” because future enrollment increases could leave the district hamstrung if it is sold.

Gisler resident Scott Miller said other districts have decided against selling unused sties after their student populations increased, forcing them to reopen the schools.

Community members urged the committee to seek long-term leases on the sites instead of selling them.

The district has contemplated selling the sites to acquire much needed Proposition 1A state modernization funds.

“We want to take advantage of state facility repair funds, but we also want to keep the sites,” Bullette said. “Long-term leases would allow the district to do both.”

District officials say they must come up with $3 million in order to get $12 million from the state.

Board member Catherine McGough has said the district does not have the money necessary to get the matching funds.

The majority of committee members also said they advocate maintaining Gisler’s current status as a long-term lease.

The district currently leases the Gisler site to Greater Long Beach Christian Schools Inc.

The three surplus sites have haunted the district for years. In 1995, a similar committee recommended that the board sell the Gisler site, but the board did not follow the recommendation.

Although the committee, made up of 11 members, makes a formal recommendation to the board, the board is not mandated to follow the committee’s proposal.

The board needs four of the five votes to sell a site, and it is deadlocked at 3 to 2 in favor of selling.

The committee has set Jan. 26 as a tentative date for a public hearing regarding the sites issue.

A final recommendation to the board is expected in February.

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