EDUCATIONALLY SPEAKING -- Gay Geiser-Sandoval

I have a friend who volunteers hours of her time each day to help at

school. While her family might be better off financially if she got a

paying job, her family is committed to helping the community by giving

both time and money. That is why I always laugh when she tells me she is

just waiting to win the lottery so she can give all of that money to the

schools too. If only we could all be so generous with our time and money.

It was announced this week that the Segerstroms are willing to give $2

million over a five-year period to fund two foundations to help Costa

Mesa and Estancia high schools and TeWinkle Middle School. Costa Mesa

High serves seventh through 12th grades, so it would receive $1 million.

Together, TeWinkle and Estancia serve sixth- through 12th grades, so they

would get the other $1 million.

However, all donations are contingent upon the city’s approval of a

building permit for the proposal, dubbed the Home Ranch development.

Those building permits would require that the city’s general plan be

changed. So, residents of Costa Mesa, if you want to obtain the

Segerstroms’ donations to help the schools, you better get on the

bandwagon and generate support for the project.

The Segerstroms are projecting that they will obtain a building permit

by spring, at which time they would give $200,000 to each foundation. It

was recommended that each school invest that $200,000 principal and,

after the first year, use half of the interest to fund grants or projects

at the schools and reinvest the other half. If the foundation could

obtain 10% interest and have no expenses, there would be $10,000 to use

at the school beginning about spring 2003. As additional money is added

to the foundations each year, the total available to disburse from the

interest would increase accordingly.

The city’s general plan for Home Ranch now calls for a residential

area and an industrial park. If the Segerstroms’ requests are approved,

there will be an Ikea store with twice the space of the Tustin store,

plus housing and office and industrial buildings. Studies indicate that

this mix of buildings will double the traffic and air-quality effect as

compared with the current plan, generating an average of 20,000 car trips

a day. It is also expected to generate $1.2 million or more in sales tax

per year, which amounts to about $9 per Costa Mesa resident.

Because of the efforts of the Segerstrom family, this same Costa Mesa

community already has one of the most successful shopping centers in the

world. It has world-class theaters, high-rise office structures and fine

restaurants. Many of the high school students who attend the community’s

schools supply the labor for the lowest-paying jobs to keep it all going.

They are the ones who may be late getting to school because of the

increased traffic. Their families pay increased rent for housing that is

less available because of the increase in building. Some are asking why

the Segerstroms, who have already benefited to the tune of millions, from

the labor from this community, as well as the inconveniences imposed upon

it, haven’t seen the need to make a donation of this size to the schools

before now.

The reality is that Costa Mesa High’s Academic Booster Council’s

budget was less than $1,000 last year, and the Parent Teacher Student

Assn.’s budget was about $3,000. So, this proposed donation should prove

to be a very tasty carrot to dangle before those parents who waited 20

years at Costa Mesa High for new band uniforms and choir robes.

If the $2 million is actually received, it could mean a big difference

in about 10 years to the educational experience attained by those at

these three campuses. On the other hand, the fight over how the money

should be spent could prove divisive. Already there is talk that the

foundation money should be used to fund a football stadium on the

Estancia High campus.

The Segerstroms’ donation could be the schools’ salvation. Some

question why it must be tied to a change in the city’s general plan and a

building permit.

* GAY GEISER-SANDOVAL is a Costa Mesa resident. Her column runs

Tuesdays. She may be reached by e-mail at o7 [email protected] .