Aliso Elementary Lease Slated for Auction

If leased, the Saddleback Unified School District expects the site that once housed Aliso Elementary School in Lake Forest to bring in a substantial chunk of cash to supplement its operating budget.

At its first meeting during the 2011-12 school year, Superintendent Clint Harwick told the board that the district will ask for a minimum bid of $17,000 per month to lease the 8.15-acre site.

Aliso could become home to a private K-8 school as early as next month.

The school board unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday allowing  Harwick to conduct a public bid Oct. 6 to lease the elementary school, which the district closed in June due to declining enrollment. 

“This will be $17,000 a month if they meet this bid. It’s important that we use our surplus properties wisely. Not only did we save about $400,000 in personnel costs when we closed the school, we can add to the savings by leasing these properties,” Harwick said. “That can be reinvested for all our students districtwide.”

Under the proposed lease agreement, the school would still be available for organized recreational uses such as the American Youth Soccer Association and Little League Baseball, as it had been when it was an operational public school, officials said.

“We want to be good neighbors. That’s absolutely critical,” said Susie S. Swartz, board president.

Also Tuesday, the board unanimously approved conducting a public bid for the lease of a surplus warehouse on Via Fabricante in Mission Viejo.

The votes on leasing surplus properties followed a workshop during which school board members reviewed the wording of school policies governing issues from graduation requirements to student use of technology.

One area of discussion was how to balance the rights of high school students with the concerns of police when officers want to interview them on school grounds.

Trustee Dennis Walsh said that schools should immediately contact parents if a law enforcement officer wants to interview them on campus and that in most cases, an interview can wait until a parent is able to be present. Walsh said he also wants the district to give students a card that summarizes their legal rights before they speak to police.

“I’m not necessarily soft on crime, but I’m strong on rights,” Walsh said.

But other trustees raised concerns about protecting the safety of all students.

“Protecting the safety of the whole campus is paramount,” said Trustee Don Sedgwick. “If we’re not clearly supportive of the school resource officers on our campus, we’re not going to get their support.”

“We should not be blocking what the police are trying to do in any way,” added Trustee Ginny Fay Aitkens.

The board approved a requirement that, except in cases of child abuse or neglect, the school principal or his designee contact parents as soon as possible when a law enforcement officer comes to interview a student on campus. The vote was 4-1, with Walsh voting no.