Schools Consider Expansion Ideas

With $27 million earmarked for campus upgrades and 10 years to spend it in, Laguna Beach Unified School District board members, staff and a few residents reviewed wish lists this past Monday, Oct. 5, for additions at all four schools and improved playing fields at Laguna Beach High School.

Improving the baseball field by either adding fencing or reorienting the field to avoid homeruns from causing homeowners on St. Ann’s Drive to run for cover is a priority, according to board reports.

Ruhnau Ruhnau Clarke, a Riverside architectural firm, presented four options for baseball field changes. At $3 million, the least expensive option called for replacing the grass with synthetic turf, which would make the field more durable for soccer, said Jeff Dixon, the district’s director of facilities.

The most expensive $11 million option proposed reorienting the baseball field to face the track and football field and extending the field to comply with CIF standards. Center field would increase to 350 feet from 315 feet and left and right fields to 300 feet. The grass would be replaced with synthetic turf. Retaining walls would be added to lift or lower the field and push it to the maximum property line, said Dixon. Improving concessions, restrooms and adding a storage building adds another $1.3 million. Without extending the field, the costs would reduce to $6.9 million.

The final option called for reorienting the field toward the track and football field, adding synthetic turf and relocating the bleachers for $4 million; adding a new concessions stand and restrooms would again add $1.3 million.

Options did not include fencing, which has already been approved by the board and will either be fixed or retractable fencing at 50 feet if the field is not reoriented, said Dixon. If the field is reconfigured, new fencing would be added at 30 feet, said Dixon, although height would depend on preventing baseballs from leaving the field.

Four stations were set up around the district’s boardroom during the special facilities study session with architectural plans laid out for El Morro and Top of the World elementary schools, Thurston Middle School and the high school. An architectural firm had been assigned to each school, as previously selected by the school board, a report says.

The plans will come back for board review prior to the end of the year. Dixon said recommendations will be considered by the board at meetings in January and February.

With school enrollments running even with last year’s figure at 3,000 students, classrooms are still urgently needed, said board president Ketta Brown. “They’re hanging on meat hooks in there,” she said. “If we want to add anything, we have nowhere to put them.”

The district is anticipating adding new subjects because of state-mandated curriculum known as STEM, which stands for science, technology, engineering and math. New emphasis has been placed on achieving higher proficiency in technological subjects and non-fiction writing through the state’s Common Core academic guidelines effective this year.

Price tags for proposed changes ranged from $1 million to $11 million, with modifications at the high school topping the tab. With the exception of Dee Perry, all board members attended the study session.

The firm SVA Architects in Santa Ana made recommendations for Thurston and Top of the World schools and DC Architects outlined plans for El Morro.

Proposed changes at the other schools included adding classrooms where space allows. El Morro Elementary School is also asking for shade shelters over the blacktop and a dedicated room for music instruction and performance, said Chris Duddy, principal. “Music is all over the place now,” he said, pointing to several classrooms on the architectural lay-out of the school.

The architectural firms were asked to suggest ways to maximize existing space and add buildings. School principals and staff were also asked for input, the report said.