Santa Clarita City Manager Ken Striplin said he was very excited Tuesday to ask the City Council to approve the terms of a deal to purchase the site of the former Santa Clarita Elementary School from the Saugus Union School District.
Striplin said in working with SUSD Superintendent Robert Hernandez and the district’s legal team, they settled on a price of $13 million for the roughly 9-acre lot on Bouquet Canyon Road. The terms were announced in a joint statement Wednesday from both entities.
The next step necessary for the sale to go through is a presentation of the terms for approval to the SUSD board, according to Striplin, who gave the basic outline of a four- to six-month process for a school district to divest itself of property, which is spelled out in state law.
“This is a huge opportunity for the city of Santa Clarita. The council has spoken on several occasions of wanting to do different things in the Saugus community,” Striplin said during his presentation. “One of the challenges we have is land and space. This acquisition solves both of those problems and really gives the council an opportunity to make something very special in the Saugus community.”
SUSD governing board President Matt Watson also said he hopes the city-district terms solve an issue that’s been weighing on Watson and the greater Saugus community since the school site closed in June 2024.
Watson said while there were several reasons the campus had to close, as an alumnus from the campus’ class of 1984, it’s a place that’s “near and dear” to his heart, and a decision that was not made lightly.
“I had heard from people I haven’t talked to since the sixth grade,” he said in a phone interview Wednesday, referring to the years of calls, emails and public comments the district has received since the campus-closure discussion started.
The district made the decision to close the campus in November 2023. The mid-century modern architecture, designed in 1959, was the district’s oldest.
He said while it was a difficult decision, it was one that had to be done in the best interest of the district, and he saw promise in the city’s vision and direction for the future next uses.
Council members talked about the potential for a library or a community center on Tuesday.
In October 2023, following a state-required facilities report, school district officials reported that for the school to be updated to 1976 standards for earthquake retrofits, as outlined in Assembly Bill 300, the renovations would cost at least half the cost of replacing the campus.
The cost of replacing the structures, which taught 169 students the year it closed, was estimated by the district to be approximately $25 million in 2023, according to district officials.
Watson said the district convened what’s known as a 7-11 committee, a reference to the potential number of members it could have, whose purpose was to determine what the community wanted the district to do with the property.
The committee’s first meeting was marred by confusion over its purpose, with many attendees angry over rumors of low-income housing on the site, which state law would consider a preferable use. Watson said community feedback was consistent throughout the process.
“The community was very clear and solid on what they did and what they did not want,” he said, acknowledging a retail offer had been received. A person familiar with the situation indicated it was not one pursued by the school board.
Watson said the board directed staff to begin negotiations with the city around December.
There were three appraisals for potential values received, he said, describing the low end as an open space use, then a “public good,” such as the aforementioned library or community center, and then a mixed-use value — adding that he did not have the specific numbers available Wednesday.
The city did not immediately respond to a request for the appraisal values Wednesday.
The city and district indicated the school board would now need to sign off on the terms, which would then be reviewed by the California Department of Housing and Community Development.
Mayor Laurene Weste reiterated a sentiment from several of her colleagues in praising the staff for creating this opportunity for Saugus.
“We’ve been working really hard on this for a while. And Saugus, I can’t think of anything more wonderful opportunity for Saugus than this. We already have a park there. Saugus is a very tight family community area … and this just adds an amazing opportunity for them to gather together, to engage in community activities, to have special programs with children.”
