Santa Ana School District Needs Surplus Land Now

The Orange County Board of Supervisors made a mistake Sept. 13 when it voted 3 to 2 to not to sell six acres of surplus county land to the overcrowded Santa Ana Unified School District. It’s a mistake that can--and should--be corrected.

The county does not need the land near Grand and McFadden avenues. But the school district does, to build an elementary school to relieve serious overcrowding of the growing student population in the poor and predominantly Latino neighborhood. There, more than 400 pupils attend school in trailers that have been converted into classrooms. Any other site in the neighborhood would probably require condemning homes, which would be needlessly disruptive and far more costly.

The vote came as the supervisors were to decide whether to adopt as an ordinance or put on the ballot an initiative requiring all future jails to be built in Santa Ana. In voting against the school district deal, they said they did not want to sell surplus property until the jail site controversy and related court cases are resolved.

But that could take years--a delay the school district cannot afford, not only because it will deny students the critically needed classrooms, but also because state financing already approved for the new school could be lost.

In addition, the county already has considered, and rejected, the site as a possible jail location. It is surplus land that the county has been ready to sell. And the sale was virtually consummated with a written agreement on the $3.2-million purchase price. The county board has no business using schoolchildren as pawns in the political games being played over where the new county jail will finally be located.

Thanks to the angry reaction from residents, city and school district officials--and from Supervisor Roger R. Stanton, who represents the Santa Ana area--the supervisors seem ready to reverse their unwise decision holding up the sale. They should do so when the matter comes back before the board Oct. 13.