HUNTINGTON BEACH : Preschool Gets OK to Operate at LeBard

The Planning Commission on Tuesday approved a conditional use permit for a preschool to operate at the former Lois and Harry LeBard Elementary School. Currently, the school serves as the administrative office for the Huntington Beach City School District.

The preschool, Rinaldi’s Child Care Concerns, could move into vacant rooms at its new location shortly after the first of the year.

Serving up to 45 youngsters between the ages of 2 and 6, the preschool has been operating at the former Bushard Elementary School. The preschool must leave that site, however, because the school will be demolished for a subdivision of 58 homes.

At the commission meeting, several residents in the Meredith Gardens housing tract near the former LeBard School spoke against having the preschool in their neighborhood.

Bruce White said he was “keenly concerned” about the increased traffic that will be caused by parents driving youngsters to and from school.

“They’ll be dropping their children off while our children will be walking or riding their bikes to school,” he said. “Somebody will get killed or hurt.”

Planners said about 450 to 500 children attended LeBard before the school was closed in 1980 and preschool traffic would be relatively negligible.

The district will receive monthly rent of $1,000 from the preschool, Assistant Supt. Jerry Buchanan said.

Bushard School, the current site for the preschool, is in the Fountain Valley School District but located in Huntington Beach.