- Home
- News Grid
- Local News
- Green Hawk
- Business
- Politics
- School Zone
- Nonprofits
- Missing Pets
- Multimedia
- Arts
- Movies
- Outdoors
- Sports
- News Releases
- Columnists
- Blogs
- Opinions
- Classifieds
- Advertise
- Donate
- Partners
Technical High School May Be in Santa Maria’s Future
Santa Maria Joint Union High School District trustees may decide Wednesday night whether to move forward with purchasing land for a new high school.
The district is considering buying two parcels totaling 11 acres on the northeast corner of Preisker Lane and North Broadway in Santa Maria.
Officials are hoping the site will become home to a new continuation high school, with an emphasis on technical careers.
The district has been in negotiations to buy the space for several months, and may nail down details enough to extend an offer Wednesday, Superintendent Mark Richardson said.
The trustees are scheduled to meet at 6:30 p.m. at the district office, 2560 Skyway Drive.
“We’re hoping to have some resolution to that by the time we get to the board meeting,” Richardson told Noozhawk on Tuesday. “We haven’t finalized anything, but our thinking was that we wanted to be prepared in case we were able to close the deal.”
The tricky part, Richardson said, is that the district is dealing with two separate owners.
Rivergate of Santa Maria LLC owns the parcel occupied by Santa Maria Pines Campground, while the corner parcel is owned by Santa Barbara Bank & Trust.
Richardson said the value of the bigger parcel, the RV park, is $2.1 million.
Even if both properties are bought, Richardson said, the district will still have to perform a series of tests to make sure the location near Highway 101 is fit for a school.
“The initial indications pretty much indicate that it would be a place where we could go forward with,” he said. “But none of it is guaranteed.”
The new school, which would be paid for with part of the district’s $79 million Measure C-2004 bond and state-matching funds, was supposed to tentatively open in 2015 and cost $15 million.
Richardson said Tuesday that he’s unsure the district could stick to that time frame or if that price is still correct.
He said a vote Wednesday could keep the district on its path to offering 400 to 450 students an education with a technical career focus.
“It would be a step forward, definitely,” Richardson said. “We want to try to create programs that will benefit all of our kids. I think it’s pretty safe to say that we would be looking at it through the lens of career technical education.”
— Noozhawk staff writer Gina Potthoff can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
Comments
Noozhawk's comments are moderated, but by posting here you accept your responsibility to follow our rules as part of Noozhawk's shared online community. Please keep your comments civil and helpful. Don't attack other readers personally, and do not use vulgar, abusive or discriminatory language. Use the "Report Abuse" link if a comment violates these standards or our Terms of Use
More Local News »
Providence Hall to Present Spring Concert on Saturday
Corinne Dorais of Santa Barbara Graduates from Juniata College
Marymount Students Get Their Feet Wet in Marine Science with SCUBA Elective
Righetti High Students Get Up-Close Look at Child Development with Preschool Program
SBCC Named First Citrix IT Academy in Southern California
Weather: Overcast 65.0º
Search Noozhawk »
