LOS ALAMITOS : 2 Schools Removed From Sell-Lease List
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Bowing to public pressure, the Los Alamitos Unified School District has decided to remove Oak Middle School and Los Alamitos Elementary School/Laurel Park from a list of district properties being considered for sale or long-term lease.
The decision, announced at the school board meeting Monday, immediately drew cheers from members of Save Oak School, a community group that has collected more than 4,000 signatures opposing the district’s plan.
“We’re extremely pleased,” said Brenda Gorman, founder of SOS. “Now we don’t have to worry that our children will have no schools in the future.”
The two schools are not being used for classes by the district, but residents say demographic changes could require that they be reopened in the not-to-distant future.
Board President Keith Polakoff said results of public hearings conducted May 11 and 17 persuaded the board not to consider the two campuses for sale or long-term lease.
He said the board will continue to study whether to sell or lease two other sites on the list--the Weaver Elementary School site and the district administrative offices--but will wait for the recommendation of a yet-to-be-formed citizen panel on what site to dispose of.
The panel will be formed in September and is likely to submit its recommendation by the end of the year, Polakoff said.
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