The Oceanside Unified School District board voted 4-1 Tuesday to modernize the aging San Luis Rey Elementary and close the doors on Garrison Elementary.
The decision came after months of division over what should be done about the poor conditions at both campuses.
Garrison Elementary temporarily shut its doors last summer after several sinkholes opened up, forcing students to relocate to San Luis Rey Elementary while crews assessed the damage. According to school district findings, the 50-year-old drain system needed to be gutted and replaced and would come at the cost of $13 million.
On Tuesday, parents voiced concern over the options determining their children’s fate. Many were distraught and claimed that enough wasn’t being done for the well being of students. One mother refused to send her kids back to San Luis Rey citing safety concerns.
“What is best for my kids is not to go back to that unsafe campus at SLR. If that’s really the only way to keep us together…I won’t go back," she said.
Another parent found value in modernizing San Luis Rey and thought it was the best plan.
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"Updating San Louis Rey and then housing both the schools, Garrison and San Luis Rey there. I think it’s a great option considering everything that’s going on.”
