State Recommends 2 Sites for School

A state report on 11 potential sites for a school in the Santa Clara Valley recommended two farm properties along Sycamore Road as the most suitable locations.

The state’s Office of Public School Construction released the 30-page report this week for the Santa Clara Elementary School District to use as it decides the fate of its century-old schoolhouse, located off California 126.

Concerned about the safety of students and parents, the district is considering whether to relocate the historic little red schoolhouse or leave it in place and construct a new campus. The district will not make a decision until a committee of parents and residents gives its input.

“I think we’re at the beginning stage, but we’ve done our homework,” said district Supt. Tamera McCracken.

The state evaluation described sites near California 126 as too close to traffic. A site south of the one-room Santa Clara School was deemed too close to Southern Pacific railroad tracks. Two sites in the Toland Park area were called unsafe because of power lines.

About a dozen parents and residents have volunteered to serve on the committee that will help decide the fate of the schoolhouse, which has served children of farm workers and farm owners for more than 100 years.

School district officials broached the idea of moving the school several months ago, arguing that the expansion of nearby Toland Road Landfill, a proposed truck weigh station down the highway and the Newhall Ranch development proposed just across the Los Angeles County border will increase traffic along California 126 and create more dust, noise and safety hazards.

“It just kind of seems like the schoolhouse is getting crunched from every side,” said Fred Good, co-owner of PJHM architects, the company hired by the school district four months ago to act as facilitator between the district and the community. During the meeting Monday, several residents said Caltrans and the Ventura Regional Sanitation District, which runs the landfill, should pay for relocating the school, if that’s what the committee decides.

The future of the schoolhouse has generated substantial interest in the community.

“I think, as everyone has said, it’s part of the community, not just a school,” McCracken said. “It’s recognized not only locally, but all over the state.