The Sunnyside Unified School District needs a new elementary school. It heard options about where to build it at a governing board meeting Tuesday.

The board was asked by Gene Repola, assistant superintendent for operations, to consider three sites.

They are:

● 11 acres next to to the KB Home development near Valencia Road and Interstate 10, which the developer may donate to the district.

● 21 acres near Los Reales Road, which the owner may sell to the district.

● 25 acres near Alvernon Way and Elvira Road, which the owner wants to exchange for a 45-acre property the district owns that is not suitable for the new school.

“We need to settle on a piece (of property) within a month, if we want to have the school ready by fall 2008,” Repola said.

Of the three options, the speediest process to get land is the donation of the 11 acres. It would take about two months to complete, Repola said.

Buying land could take up to eight months, and acquiring state-owned land could take up to 18 months, he said. Both would cause the district to miss its fall 2008 opening deadline.

Acquiring state land for the school is a fourth option, Repola said, but he told the board he preferred one of the other three because of the time issue.

The new school was approved by the state School Facilities Board, the agency responsible for new school construction. It is slated for grades K-5 and must occupy at least 10 acres, according to state regulations, Repola said.

The district plans to build the new elementary school in the area south of Valencia Road and west of I-10, which is quickly filing in with homes.

Board President Eva Dong asked Repola to look into acquiring a parcel of state land in the area bordered by Valencia Road to the north, Swan Road to the east, Alvernon Way to the west and Los Reales Road to the south.

The board also discussed the need for land for a new high school.

According to a School Facilities Board estimate, the district will need a new high school by 2012.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 28th, 2007 at 12:01 am and is filed under Education, Local. Tags for this post: Education-K-12, Education-K-12-Local, K-12, Konstantinos Kalaitzidis, page-a09. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.