Oceanside Unified School District is asking for feedback on four scenarios regarding the futures of Garrison Elementary and San Luis Rey Elementary schools as they face potential closures amid poor infrastructure.
Parents have until Tuesday afternoon to submit feedback in an online survey regarding the schools. Both campuses are aging and in need of repair, hence the possibility of closures. Garrison was built in 1970 and San Luis Rey was constructed in 1963.
During the summer of 2019, several sinkholes opened up near the playground at Garrison. Those students were transferred to nearby San Luis Rey while crews evaluated the safety and potential repairs.
According to the school district's findings, the 50-year-old storm drain system underneath Garrison needs to be replaced at an estimated cost of $13 million. The property is currently valued at an estimated $6 million.
Since several more hundred students are enrolled at San Luis Rey for the 2019-2020 school year, it has come to light that conditions at that school are also subpar, according to parents.
As of Monday, an online petition titled “Unsafe, unsanitary, unequal,” gathered nearly 500 signatures. The petition claims the bathrooms are unsanitary, the classroom ceilings are leaking and moldy and the campus is termite-infested.
The district’s online survey does not include any of those issues for future improvements, rather modernizing high power tension lines. San Luis Rey is currently valued at an estimated $5.9 million.
The district's online survey gives parents four options:
- Repairing Garrison while keeping students at San Luis Rey and ultimately keeping both schools
- Selling Garrison and keeping San Luis Rey
- Selling San Luis Rey and keeping Garrison
- Selling both properties
With the last option, it does not explicitly say a new school would be built with the funds. However, some parents are hoping it implies that option.
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The online petition states “We must stand united and demand that our District provides a safe and up to code educational environment for the young students by remodeling their campuses or building them a new school. You can help make their educational miracles happen. The children in our community deserve better.”
