SANTA ANA : $1.3 Billion Needed for Schools by 2020

The Santa Ana Unified School District must come up with $1.3 billion to build the dozens of new schools and refurbish old ones needed to house students over the next 28 years, according to a district report.

The report, presented to the Board of Education at its regular meeting Tuesday, states that the expanding student population will require the district to open 42 new schools by the year 2020 to accommodate an estimated 98,000 new students.

Mike Vail, senior director of facilities, said the $1.3-billion construction and renovation figure represents more money than the entire district spends in more than five years.

The report predicts that the district will need to spend more than $300 million on new buildings and that about $90 million will be necessary to renovate and improve current buildings by the year 2000. Still, Vail also said that even if all current building plans are completed over the next eight years, there will be 4,200 more students than classrooms could hold.

Although that number may be reduced by changing all schools to year-round enrollment, the only way to house all the students would be to place more portable classrooms on school playgrounds and fields, he said.