District Eyes Bond Funds for Schools

The school district stands to gain $17.7 million for the modernization and expansion of four schools and the construction of Thorpe Elementary School, officials said.

The State Allocation Board, which doles out Proposition 203 money, could fund the Santa Ana Unified School District projects by fall, senior director of facilities Mike Vail said Monday.

Proposition 203, which was passed in March, allocates $3 billion for the construction and modernization of schools throughout the state, from kindergarten to college.

With $41.2 million at stake, the Santa Ana Unified School District stands to gain the most of any district in Orange County.

Vail joined Supt. Al Mijares and school board President Sal Mendoza last week to lobby allocation board members and their representatives.

The allocation board is expected to formally vote on the funding May 29.

“It should be a slam dunk,” Vail said.

Other approvals are still pending for the largest chunk of money requested by the school district, $23.5 million, to pay for the state’s first-ever space-saver school. The school is so named because it would be built next to an existing development, the Bristol Marketplace.

Vail said that in 1993, the allocation board earmarked money for the space-saver school from future bond measures.

Vail said approvals for the space-saver building plans from the office of the state architect and the office of public school construction are expected by June.