HUNTINGTON BEACH : Bolsa Chica Schools Sufficient For Now

The planned 245-acre development in the Bolsa Chica area may eventually require a new elementary school to serve the incoming residents, but probably not until the end of the decade, according a school-trend analysis conducted for the project developer.

The Ocean View School District’s 17 existing schools can accommodate the additional students expected at least through the completion of the project’s first phase in 1995, said Jayna Miller, a spokeswoman for the Newport Beach-based consultant, in presenting the study to the school board last week.

The study anticipates between 172 and 243 additional students with the initial phase, but states that nearby Harbour View, Hope View and Marine View elementary schools will have enough room for those students.

The district owns a 15-acre site near Warner Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway, where it eventually plans to build a school to serve the new Bolsa Chica population.

But according to the consultant’s report, the school may not be needed until the end of the decade. The Koll Co. project, part of a development and wetlands-restoration plan for the 1,600-acre area, calls for as many as 5,700 homes to be built by 1999.

In all, the new neighborhoods are expected to add between 549 and 975 students, which would exceed the school district’s current capacity, Miller said. To accommodate all of those students, the district will either have to develop the school site, expand existing schools, reopen one of its closed facilities or bus students to other schools.

As the nearby Holly-Seacliff area develops, a separate school to be included in the Huntington Beach City School District is planned. That district has not yet acquired a site, but is pressuring the city and the developer to allocate more money to the district to locate and build a school.

The Ocean View projection report is subject to a number of variables. The Board of Trustees this year will be considering plans to reorganize and desegregate the district, which may prompt the closing of some schools.

On the other hand, Miller said that the study’s student projections may prove to be exaggerated, since the high-priced homes are expected to attract few families with school-age children. For example, as the city’s housing prices soared during the past decade, its number of households increased while the number of students in area school districts declined.