Exploring all the options

Administrators at two Christian private schools leasing from public school land say they expected a decision last week not to reinstate their leases. But both schools’ officials say they hope to stay on Huntington Beach City School District property despite their leases ending in June 2009.

Both schools have submitted their own proposals for the property to the district, which is accepting them until Friday. Principals of the schools say they want to stay put and hope to win new leases with their offers, but are looking around for other options in case that plan fails.

It’s doubtful Huntington Christian School could find another place more ideal, Principal Art Blietz said.

“We’ve invested a lot of money, a lot of effort and time into the site,” he said. “Our desire would be to stay here and come up with a long-term lease from the school district. We feel it would accomplish both things: give us the security of being here, and give them the continual revenue they want.”

At the same time, however, the administrators from both schools aren’t banking on winning the bid. The search for a possible new campus is well underway, Brethren Christian Principal Rick Niswonger said.

“We are actively pursuing other campuses, other sites,” he said. “We’ve been around for 60 years, so it’s an important thing for us. We’re not just going to blink out in 2009.”

Niswonger said he didn’t see the board vote as a setback to his cause.

“They simply determined not to delay the process,” he said. “Let the process run its course. We are making some serious proposals for this campus as well.”

Huntington Christian School, which leases the closed Burke Elementary site at 7700 Levee Drive, and Brethren Christian Junior/Senior High School, which leases the Gisler Elementary site at 21141 Strathmoor Lane, were given notice in June that their leases would be terminated in two years.

At a special closed session last week, the district Board of Trustees voted 3-2 not to take back that termination.

One group that has redoubled its efforts after the vote was the people behind SaveHBcommunity.com, residents who strongly oppose selling any of the four school sites under consideration by the district.

“As a result of the recent school board vote, to keep the leases terminated for Gisler (Brethren) and Burke (HCS), we have no other choice but to take our efforts to the ‘Next Level,’” a news release from the group states.

The group has contacted an attorney and a political consultant and is fundraising to raise its profile before the board considers proposals later in the month.

“Basically we’re looking at all of our options,” said Stephanie Root, who helped found the website. “We’re trying to validate our organization. We want the board to take us seriously. We want to look at all avenues, whether that’s political or something we can do from a legal approach.”

Root said that while some community members had discussed a recall for trustees, her group is not calling for one. At the same time, she said, “nothing has been ruled out” as the group considers its options.