School District Nearer to Spending $7.12 Million

  • These two site plans show in darker colors the classrooms proposed to be built with the $7.12 million school bond?except that the junior high wing at El Tejon, half of those shown above, will not be built at this time. The I-5 freeway is approximately where the red line is in the top image. The soccer fields are relocated to within 50 feet of the freeway. On bottom, plans for Frazier Park School addition. Items in dark gray will be permanent classrooms.

    These two site plans show in darker colors the classrooms proposed to be built with the $7.12 million school bond?except that the junior high wing at El Tejon, half of those shown above, will not be built at this time. The I-5 freeway is approximately where the red line is in the top image. The soccer fields are relocated to within 50 feet of the freeway. On bottom, plans for Frazier Park School addition. Items in dark gray will be permanent classrooms.

El Tejon’s Proximity To I-5 Not Addressed

By Patric Hedlund and Richard Hoegh

The El Tejon Unified School District Board voted January 14 for a $927,100 contract with an architect to move to the next step in planning new classrooms for El Tejon and Frazier Park Schools.

Board President Ken Hurst said there is no plan for ETUSD Trustees, their architects and Superintendent Shelley Mason to address potential hazards to students due to El Tejon School’s proximity to Interstate 5.

ETUSD’s Master Plan for the future (prepared by Phillips, Metsch, Sweeney and Moore Architects for about $68,750 in 2007) does not include any mention of a need to address the impact on children’s health of growing air pollution from increased diesel emissions along I-5, or the danger of potential spills of hazardous materials on the freeway.

This summer a big rig carrying hazardous materials overturned near the school. On New Year’s Day a truck carrying corrosive hazardous materials lost its brakes near the school and injured 11 motorists. On January 17 another big rig accident occurred near the school.

In October of 2007 a Mountain Communities Town Council forum heard a panel of experts on air quality. One advised that the school needs to be moved, asking “Is the school within 500 feet of the freeway?”

The answer was that the El Tejon playing fields are within 50 feet of the northbound lanes. Existing buildings are about 300 feet from the northbound I- 5 lanes. Proposed new buildings will be about 270 feet from the northbound lanes.

Last month, San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District staff said the school is “too close to the freeway” to even place an air monitor there, according to guidelines from the the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

When a reporter asked about the EPA rule, saying the monitor could not be placed at the school because of “bad air” from freeway emissions, Hurst said “it wasn’t because of bad air, it was because the school is too close to the freeway.”

Hurst suggested that perhaps trees could be planted on the playground next to the freeway “to create some protective barrier.” Trustee Anita Anderson reminded the board that she had asked the trustees to address the location of El Tejon School several months ago.

When a reporter asked what response there had been to the request, board members and the superintendent agreed that no action had been taken.

Hurst said the bond funds were intended to replace portable classrooms with permanent structures, not to address problems with the location of the existing campus.

When a reporter asked when and where the architect, district administration and board had discussed limiting investment of bond funds in a school site that might have to be abandoned, Hurst said such a conversation had never taken place.

Now that it is known that the bond funds will cover only a fraction of what was originally promised, some community members had speculated that bond investment would be concentrated on the Frazier Park School, which does not have a site problem. Max Williams of Frazier Park said locating a new school site in this region would be difficult.

The board voted to approve spending $532,900 on architect’s fees for Frazier Park Elementary School and $394,200 for El Tejon School.

This is part of the January 23, 2009 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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