Battle over unification has put new high school on hold
Proposed campus could cost upwards of $96 million
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com

WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers SIGN OF THE TIME?- A sign at the north end of the parking lot behind the new Camarillo Library on Los Posas Road states the 77 acres of farmland is slated to become the site of Camarillo's next high school. The battle over unification, however, has stalled any construction on the land purchased four years ago by the Oxnard Union High School District.

A pair of signs near the Camarillo Library offer the only evidence the 77-acres of scenic farmland behind is slated to become the site of Camarillo's newest high school.

But the question of whether or not the campus will come to fruition is based in large part on another, much bigger issue- under which school district will Camarillo and Somis teens attend high school?

Oxnard Union High School District bought the property, which runs behind the library, east to the corner of Lewis and Las Posas roads, four years ago intending to build a high school.

But plans to build the new campus came to a halt when a movement to unify the Pleasant Valley School District by taking over the education of local high school students gained steam in the last five to seven years.

The issue on unification now awaits a hearing by the California Board of Education, expected to decide in March whether voters can settle the matter.

Should Pleasant Valley become a unified school district, voters will also have to elect the trustees, who, along with the Oxnard school board, would decide how to handle the proposed new school site, said Randy Winton, assistant superintendent at Oxnard Union High School District.

High schools are overcrowded in Oxnard, and trustees had wanted to build a campus in both Camarillo and Oxnard to accommodate the growing enrollments at the high schools. Those plans have been delayed, however, stalling any decision on the proposed campus until the two districts settle the issue of which one will be responsible for Camarillo and Somis high school students.

Economic concerns also play a role on when a new high school would appear on the property. At the time that Oxnard bought the land, enrollment growth was 3 percent a year. Since then district enrollment has leveled off and some middle schools that feed students to Oxnard have experienced a decline in student population, Winton said.

In 2004, voters passed a $135 million bond to fund new school construction and improvements to older schools in the Oxnard Union High School District. Construction costs have skyrocketed since then.

Winton said four years ago a 240,000-square-foot school about the size of Oxnard High would have cost the district $47 million to build. Now, the cost to build a similar sized campus would cost around $96 million.

In any case, before construction can begin on the property, an environmental impact report must be completed and the state must approve all proposed school sites and designs. The property must also be annexed into the city of Camarillo.

Because the property is located within county limits, the property would come under SOAR restrictions, initiatives requiring voter approval before open space can be developed.

But because the school is for public use, it would be exempt from any restrictions and likely be built.

If and when a school is built, there's been little talk by school officials on the fate of Adolfo Camarillo High School, located just a few miles east of the undeveloped property.

Camarillo high school's deed requires the property be used only for a school or to grow agriculture, otherwise it returns to the Camarillo family, Winton said.

Nonetheless, until the matter of unification is resolved, the fate of the proposed new high school remains in the air.

"I hope that whoever ends up with it they build a school on it, because it's very hard to find a piece of property that large (for that purpose)," Winton said.