Oak View Elementary students start new school year in portable classrooms after asbestos closure

Oak View Elementary School welcomed back its nearly 800 students on the first day of school Wednesday.

But this was not a normal opening day of a new school year.

Teachers stood outside 25 portable classrooms to greet the students and their parents at the Huntington Beach campus. The main school building, which Ocean View School District officials closed for asbestos removal last school year, is expected to reopen in January following upgrades to the restrooms, fire alarms, ceilings, flooring and heating and cooling system.

“The goal is to bring back stability and trust as a district this year,” Supt. Carol Hansen said. “Because so many of these students had to be relocated last year, we’re very excited to have them and their families back on campus. Students need to feel safe and secure in order to learn, and now they can feel that at their school next to their homes.”

In October, Oak View, along with Hope View and Lake View elementary schools — two other Huntington Beach campuses in the Ocean View district — were closed after asbestos, a potentially hazardous mineral fiber, was found during a modernization project that started in July at 11 district schools.

When the schools were built decades ago, asbestos was used for fireproofing on metal beams above the ceilings. Over time, dust from the asbestos began to fall from the beams and onto classroom ceiling tiles.

Since last fall, construction crews have worked to remove the asbestos from Oak View, Hope View and Lake View.

The asbestos abatement at Oak View was completed before summer, Hansen said.

The cost to the district of the abatement and building upgrades is expected to total about $5 million, Hansen said.

During the closure last school year, Oak View students were bused to Village View Elementary, Oak View Preschool and Ocean View Preparatory Preschool — all in the Ocean View district — and to Walter Knott Elementary School in Buena Park.

In late January, Oak View reopened to second- through fifth-graders, who attended classes in 15 existing portable buildings. Ten more portables were added this school year to accommodate the rest of the students.

Students Shekinah Cielo, 8, and her brother Emmanuel, 10, were relocated to Walter Knott during the closure. They and their mother, Maria Bravo, said they prefer their neighborhood school.

“We had to take a bus all the way to Knott,” Shekinah said. “Their school had supplies that just wasn’t the same as ours, like different scissors and no rulers. It’s nice to be back.”

Like many other parents in the neighborhood, Bravo was able to walk her children to school Wednesday morning.

Meanwhile, Hope View Elementary reopened its school building to all students on Wednesday.

Lake View Elementary will remain closed for the 2015-16 school year while awaiting upgrades. Students will attend Ocean View’s Westmont Elementary School in Westminster.