Imperiled Classrooms to Be Moved Quickly

With rain eroding a slope beside three portable classrooms at Top of the World Elementary School, the school board has declared that an emergency exists on the campus, clearing the way for the district to move briskly to relocate the buildings.

Students were moved out of the classrooms last week and were never in danger, officials said. For now, they are being taught at other locations on campus.

“We’re utilizing all the different rooms in the school,” said Diane Bridges, Principal Sharon Maloney’s secretary. “They will be moved back into the classroom once those have been relocated.”

By declaring an emergency, trustees of Laguna Beach Unified School District may relocate the buildings without going through a formal bidding process.

Still, Acting Supt. Cheryl Baughn said she plans to get at least three bids to compare prices before the work begins. Repair of the hillside itself may have to wait until spring, when the ground is completely dry, school and city officials said.

In a recent letter to parents, Maloney said the east slope of the campus has been eroding for several years. Discussions of the problem began in 1994, but the project was postponed by budget constraints, she said.

“As all of us who live on hillsides know, erosion is one of our factors in living [in] Laguna Beach,” Maloney wrote in her letter.