Newhall district considers land for a new school

The Newhall School District Office. Dan Watson/The Signal
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The Newhall School District is in the process of considering the acquisition of an approximate 9.9-acre school site located in the Mission Village portion of Newhall Ranch.  

On Dec. 14, during the Newhall district’s governing board meeting, board members conducted a public hearing regarding the preliminary environmental assessment for a proposed school site in the Mission Village portion of Newhall Ranch. The governing board also reorganized for 2022.  

Newhall district appoints governing board positions  

The governing board elected Donna Rose, trustee area No. 2, as president, and Ernesto Smith, trustee area No. 3, as clerk for 2022.  

In addition, the governing board appointed Isaiah Talley, trustee area No. 4, as clerk pro tem in the absence of Smith. Suzan Soloman, trustee area No. 5, and Brian Walters, trustee area No. 1, continue as board members.  

Smith will represent the governing board as the liaison for the Special Education Local Plan Area board. Rose will represent the governing board at the California School Boards Association.  

The governing board appointed Walters and Solomon as a representative to the California School Boards Association Legislative Network and the Los Angeles County Committee of School Districts Organization, respectively.  

Lastly, Talley will represent the board on the Raising the Curtain Foundation.  

Considering new land for a school  

According to the agenda, the proposed school site is located to the west of the intersection of Marquee Drive and Middleton Street. As part of the acquisition process for a potential new school site, an environmental assessment must be performed to determine whether there are any hazardous-material risks associated with the site.  

FivePoint, the developer of Valencia’s Mission Village, is paying the costs associated with the Department of Toxic Substances Control’s approval of the school site.   

As part of the process, the developer prepared a preliminary endangerment assessment, as required by law. The PEA concluded there are no onsite soil gas sources at the site.  

However, the PEA showed concentrations of a “chemical of concern.” Tests detected concentrations sporadically in soil gas samples at concentrations above conservative screening levels, but modeling demonstrated that indoor air concentrations resulting from such concentrations would be below screening levels.  

According to the agenda, the PEA recommended no further action for the site. The PEA has been submitted along with public comments to the DTSC for consideration and approval. 

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