Groups want school sites

As the Huntington Beach City School District gets ready to consider what to do with its four closed elementary school sites, opponents of selling the property are gearing up their campaign to keep the land district-owned. But district officials say an Oct. 30 meeting won’t even have a vote, let alone a final decision on the lands.

The school district received 18 proposals to purchase, lease or otherwise use the properties by its deadline last Friday, Assistant Supt. Michael Curran said. Principals of both private Christian schools leasing two of the four properties said they had submitted their own proposals, hoping to hold onto their sites.

Groups angered by the board’s recent votes are making their frustrations very clear, said Trustee Shirley Carey, the only board member who voted against the lease terminations and the request for proposals over the summer.

“I don’t think there’s anybody who can misread the message from the community,” she said. “I just read about 150 letters. There’s plenty of correspondence out there.”

Now district staff officials are winnowing down the plans so that school board members can go over the feasible ones at a study session Oct. 30. Trustees stressed that these proposals were not specific bids, and there would be no vote to decide the sites’ fate that day.

But the residents who want to keep private schools, Boy Scouts, soccer practices and other programs on the property aren’t standing still. Those behind anti-selling advocacy site savehbcommunity.com are now distributing lawn signs in favor of their cause, reading “Save our school sites!” The group’s supporters have also continued to deluge the board members with letters.

Trustees have countered that they won’t necessarily sell anything, and that they do need money to move a bus maintenance facility off currently-used school land and remodel or replace their aging district offices.

As of mid-Wednesday, a poll at the Independent website showed a 343 to 5 vote in favor of not selling the school sites.

Carey, whose votes have insulated her from much of the community frustration, said she was still worried the heated debate would put fellow trustees on the defensive and make decision-making harder.

Efforts to reach the other trustees on the school board were unsuccessful.

The next board meeting will be at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at district headquarters, 20451 Craimer Lane, but the school sites will not be on the agenda. The study session on the school sites will not be until Oct. 30.