The Saugus Union School District asset management advisory committee is set to hold its final meeting on Wednesday to consider approving the recommendation report draft for the site of Santa Clarita Elementary School.
According to the meeting agenda, the committee will have a discussion about the recommendation report draft and, after their discussion, committee members will consider approving the draft to move on to be presented to the district governing board at a later date.
Last week the committee held its public hearing and seven community members spoke during public comment about what they would like to be done with the elementary school.
Frank Smathers, a Saugus resident, said that he would like to see the “unique mid-century modern” buildings preserved for future generations to admire.
He said the district should be open to working with historic preservationists to find a new purpose for the property and added that the Los Angeles Conservancy, a nonprofit organization that works through education and advocacy to preserve the historic, architectural and cultural resources of L.A. County, had shown interest in saving the school.
Andrew Salimian, director of advocacy for the L.A. Conservancy, said Smathers did invite him to the public hearing to speak on behalf of the nonprofit, and that the nonprofit would be open to working with the district to preserve the site.
Santa Clarita Planning Manager Patrick Leclair spoke on behalf of the city and said, “In reviewing the draft recommendations of the committee, I’d like to clarify that it is typically not a policy of the city to enter into a short- or long-term lease for its facilities,” which is one of the recommendations that the committee outlines in the report draft.
Leclair said that the city typically owns facilities and operates its programs, and city officials look forward to working with the district in the future.
Two Saugus community members who spoke offered their own recommendations to the committee. Kathy Samuelson said that she would love to see a parking plan added to the recommendation with whatever is decided for the site.
Another community member, Kim Rice-Bogdan, made a recommendation that the school should be reopened and retrofitted.
After public comment, committee member Kathi Lund said that before they move forward in the process, she had a few recommended edits. She recommended that the pie charts that were made after the community input meeting from Oct. 30 be added to the report. She also said there should be some way to highlight where the heritage oak trees were located on the aerial view maps, and to clarify the order of events that led to the closure of the school and add back language about the property value.
Wednesday’s meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. at the district’s administration office in the Bramlett Room, located at 24930 Avenue Stanford.
