District, community still undecided on building’s fate

Angelique Flores

Huntington Beach Union High School District officials continue to

search for answers to the fate of Building No. 300 and its programs.

A task force of parents and staff has met four times with district

officials, architects, engineers and financial consultants since Oct. 11,

trying to identify an affordable solution for the sinking Fountain Valley

High School building.

“The expert advice the district has received has led us to believe

that it needs to come down,” Supt. Susan Roper said. “We’re working with

the task force to go through all the data and explore a variety of

options.”

But the district is at the mercy of its tight coffers and doesn’t have

the funds needed to erect a new building of the same size, officials

said.

“Everything sits on the funding,” Trustee Matthew Harper said. “Not

that it isn’t a priority, but if we don’t have the money, it doesn’t get

fully rebuilt.”

District officials applied for additional funding, but they don’t know

if they’ll get all or any of it, said Ed Baker, the district’s assistant

superintendent of facilities.

In the meantime, district officials will continue to work with the

$11.4 million already set aside for this project.

Replacing all of Building No. 300’s classroom space could cost up to

$13 million, although earlier estimates to repair the building were $9

million. However, the figures, Baker said, are not absolute.

Parents such as Kim Henry say they understand the pinch the district

is in to repair its aging schools with limited funds, but they also want

to get the most for the money.

“If we can fix it for less, would it give us the extra to spend on the

rest of the campus?” Henry asked.

Parents and staff also fear some programs will be lost.

“If it goes down, will the programs be lost forever,” asked community

member David Gordon.

The community also wants to know what will happen to the students and

teachers involved in those programs.

“It is not our intention to do anything to cut programs,” Roper said.

“We may have to move the students and programs around, but we will try to

minimize any disruption.”

One alternative is to replace any loss of space of the permanent

building with modular buildings. Other options are still under

discussion.

Henry asked to explore the option of keeping the building in place,

determining the minimum cost of maintaining it while making it as safe as

a new building.

“It seems logical to take the building down, but the board needs to be

able to decide from all the possible options,” Henry said. “They need to

make a choice between A and B and not just B and B.”

However, Gordon said much of the community doesn’t want the building

torn down until there is a clear, and acceptable, understanding of the

plans.

Both sides say they seek a happy medium. When all the options have

been researched, the board will make a final decision on the building.