::: COMMUNITY NEWS

Plans for the school. Click here to see a larger version of the document.

School board approves site for Murieta school

Published Wednesday, July 5, 2006

The Elk Grove Unified School District board voted conditional approval Wednesday night for plans to locate a new $33 million elementary school on 15 acres of donated land across Stonehouse Road from Rancho Murieta.

Paul Gumbinger, president of the Rancho Murieta Association, told the school board it is "a very exciting time for us" and pointed out the site will allow Murieta children to walk to school.

The handful of people in attendance applauded the board's unanimous vote.

Paul Frank and family earlier this year offered to donate the land, part of their 220-acre property on Stonehouse Road, as the school district was about to seize part of the property, including some of the same land.

The school would replace the overcrowded and nearly 60-year-old Cosumnes River Elementary School, on heavily trafficked Jackson Road four miles west of Rancho Murieta. The target for opening has been fall 2008.

Plans for the school call for the intersection of Stonehouse and Jackson roads to be moved west to meet up with Lone Pine Road. That would make it possible for Murieta children to walk to school without crossing a public street.

Phil Fitch, president of the Murieta Kiwanis and chair of its school committee, credited Superintendent Steven Ladd with bringing the community from distrust to trust by making the site deliberations public. The district is holding a series of public meetings on the decision.

The motion for approval of the site was made by board member Brian Myers, who disagreed publicly with Frank over the first site and the price involved. Myers said he has "complete support" for the plan.

Myers, who referred to Fitch's comments, was one of several speakers who called the decision a collaborative process. "It's been eye-opening for a lot of people to see what it takes to build a school and understand what the district was going through to locate a site," he said.

He said the current site consists of about 60 percent of the original proposal and 40 percent from Frank's donation. "So we've kind of reached equilibrium between what Mr. Frank's needs are, and what he wanted, and what the district's needs are and what we needed," Myers said.

The board did not mention last month's claim by the district that the site as proposed would cost $8 million to $10 million more than a typical school construction. Officials did talk about cost-saving measures that could be employed at the site, including delaying construction of a kindergarten building.

The public meetings about the site selection will continue Aug. 7, from 9 to 11 a.m., at the Robert L. Trigg Education Center, 9510 Elk Grove-Florin Road. There will be a timeline update at the Aug. 15 school board meeting, officials said.

Constantine I. Baranoff, assistant superintendent for facilities and planning, said the district hopes to acquire the site by Sept. 30.