Huntington Beach : Panel Suggests Uses for Closed Schools

An advisory committee to the Huntington Beach City School District has recommended converting a former school site into a public library or a community facility, school officials said.

Because declining enrollment in the district has forced the closure of four schools in as many years, the nine-member advisory committee was formed last October to look into possible uses for former school buildings, Catherine Wheeler of the district said this week.

Last year, the board of trustees voted to close Burke Elementary School, 9700 Levee Drive. A fifth school, Ernest H. Gisler Middle School, 21141 Strathmoor Lane, will close this June, Wheeler said. She added that student enrollment in the district has dropped from about 7,600 during the 1979-80 school year to 5,300 this year.

The advisory committee has suggested negotiating a five-year lease for the Burke Elementary School site as a city library. The committee also recommended leasing the Gisler Middle School site as a preschool and day care center.

Other recommendations for both sites included a senior citizens center, a youth club or a school district warehouse.

Gary Burgner, assistant superintendent for business, said the district is examining the recommended uses for the two sites.

He said school administrators plan to negotiate with the city to convert one of the sites into a library, even though the district has not yet made any formal contact with city officials. Neither Burgner nor Wheeler would say when school administrators will begin negotiations. Burgner did say, however, that the district will pursue the other recommendations if the city opposes the library.

Huntington Beach has one central library and three branches, two of which are “very small,” said Ron Hayden, acting director of the municipal library. “We do have in our long-range plans consideration for new annex sites,” but no definite plans have been made, he said.