Ventura County News : Oxnard District to Pursue More Farmland as Site for 2nd School : Education: Board OKs acquiring 14 acres for Thurgood Marshall campus, which it hopes to open in August 2001.

OXNARD —  The elementary school district plans to move forward with acquiring a 14-acre site on farmland for its Thurgood Marshall campus, just two months after trustees voted to build another elementary school on agricultural land.

Trustees voted unanimously Wednesday night to construct the district’s newest school on property northwest of Patterson and Gonzales roads, across from Oxnard High School.

The site is just outside Oxnard’s city limits, and borders farmland on three sides and a residential complex on the fourth. It is also adjacent to the proposed Northwest Golf Course project, which would bring 18 holes and 450 homes to land near Gonzales Road and Victoria Avenue.

Although the Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources initiatives restrict building on farmland without voters’ approval, school districts are exempt from those limitations.

The Oxnard Elementary School District is taking advantage of that loophole to construct new schools, which officials say are desperately needed to ease crowding and accommodate future growth.

The district is 21% overcapacity and operates all 19 of its campuses on a year-round schedule. Because of crowding, dozens of students have to be bused to schools outside their neighborhoods.

In June, the school board approved a site on farmland in Oxnard’s southeast corner for the Juan Lagunas Soria school, despite parent and community concerns about the possible dangers of nearby pesticide spraying.

Although nobody spoke against the Marshall site at a public hearing Wednesday, community activists say they oppose it.

“There is no way to really protect these kids,” said Lolita Echeverria, local program coordinator for the Environmental Defense Center. “Conventional farming uses a lot of toxic chemicals, and these kids are going to be exposed on a daily basis to these chemicals.”

Richard Francis, SOAR co-author, said the school district is taking “desperate measures” by planning to build on farmland.

“It’s not really appropriate to put schools where there are pesticides in use,” he said. “It seems idiotic.”

District officials say they would prefer not to build on farmland, but that they don’t have much choice.

School sites must be at least 12 acres in size, near existing housing, a significant distance from railroad tracks, not beneath the flight path of an airport and not in the middle of an industrial park.

Administrators plan to take several actions to protect children and staff from pesticide dangers, including training staff on reporting pesticide risk problems and suspending outdoor student activities for 24 hours after any pesticide spraying.

Board President Francisco Dominguez said he was pleased about the lack of public criticism of the Marshall site. Now, he said, the district can move forward with the two new campuses--both scheduled to open in August 2001.

The entire Thurgood Marshall school is estimated to cost $15 million, including the land purchase. The money will come from previously approved local and state bonds, officials said.

But before construction can begin, the property needs to be annexed to the city of Oxnard. Dominguez said he hopes that the rest of the process will go as smoothly as the site selection.

“Hopefully, we’ve been able to educate the community on how desperate our situation is,” Dominguez said. “The sooner we can get [the schools] fully developed, the better off we’ll be to be able to accommodate students.”