The Orange County Classical Academy has struck a deal with the Orange Unified School District to take over a section of the former Peralta Junior High School property for up to 25 years to add a high school.
Starting at the first year, the charter will pay Orange Unified an annual rate of $275,000, divided over 12 months; the rate will increase the following years based on the California public school cost of annual living increase, which gets calculated at the end of the school year.
Peralta Junior High has been closed since the 1980s; a few buildings and recreational facilities remain on the property, which is located a few miles away from OCCA’s campus, which is also in Orange.
As part of the agreement to use the property, OCCA has the option to mortgage the land in addition to being able to put up portable buildings.
Orange Unified Trustees Andrea Yamasaki, Ana Page and Kris Erickson opposed the agreement when it was approved by the board Feb. 8, citing concerns over the option for OCCA to take a mortgage and the fast approval of the arrangement.
Erickson said the mortgage specifically was a “huge, huge” issue for her.
“Orange Unified is bound by whatever entity holds that lease for the next decade, which substantially reduces the value of that property,” she said.
Erickson also said she was “troubled by the rush to place (the agreement) on the agenda,” which she said was done by Trustees Rick Ledesma and John Ortega without the recommendation of staff. The result, she argued, was a “lack of due diligence to determine whether OCCA is in a financial position to meet this obligation.”
Page agreed with Erickson and said the decision feels “rushed” and she just wants “everything to go to according as OCCA says in their plan.”
Trustee Madison Miner said the expansion of OCCA stands as a “win for students, parents, neighbors and the district.”
“This move creates greater school choice and provides an alternative educational…
Read the full article here