District May Seek 5th High School at Park

In an effort to cope with overcrowding, the Santa Ana Unified School District will consider seeking negotiations with the city to build a fifth high school at Centennial Park.

The number of high school students will increase to an estimated 15,371 by 2008 from the current 12,018, according to a district study.

Centennial Park, one of the largest in town, was chosen as a possible site because it is one of only a handful of open parcels in the city large enough to accommodate a high school. The district could turn the park into a campus without condemning businesses or homes.

District officials have said the community would benefit from added athletic fields at the park. The cost of building the new school is estimated at between $30 million and $35 million.

The board also could decide to designate the site as its first fundamental high school. Although there are several fundamental elementary and intermediate schools, none of its four high schools has a strict curriculum that emphasizes reading, writing and arithmetic.