Private School Wants to Buy Its 2 Simi Campuses

Hoping to give its students and teachers a permanent home, a private Christian academy wants to buy two former public schools it leases from the Simi Valley Unified School District.

Officials at Grace Brethren Schools want to buy Arcane and Walnut Grove elementary schools, which the district closed years ago after enrollment plunged.

The idea is still in the preliminary stages, with both sides saying they don’t know what the schools are worth.

Randy Beaty, president of Grace Brethren Schools, said the purchase would give his organization a solid foundation. “What we’re trying to do is build some stability into our future,” he said.

Although several district trustees say they are open to the idea, they may yet need the buildings. After years of decline, enrollment in the district has started to swell again, straining the capacity of Simi Valley’s schools.

Last year, trustees even voted to terminate Grace Brethren’s long-term lease at Arcane as a possible first step toward reopening it as a public campus. Grace Brethren pays rent of $51,472 a year for Arcane and $58,004 for Walnut Grove.

Trustees are scheduled to revisit that decision tonight. But several said Monday that they first wanted more information on the district’s future needs before they decide what to do with Arcane. District officials are already studying boundaries between existing schools and future growth within the district.

“At this point, it makes sense to wait until we have the final boundary study,” Trustee Janice DiFatta said.

For about 10 years, Grace Brethren’s students and teachers have made themselves at home at Arcane elementary on Arcane Street, and Walnut Grove elementary on Cherry Avenue. Grace Brethren administrators also sunk money into maintenance and repairs. At Arcane, they put on a new roof, poured blacktop and refurbished the play fields, Beaty said.

About 930 students--pre-kindergarten through grade 12--fill the two campuses.

Trustees praised Grace Brethren officials for keeping the buildings in good shape.

But with district enrollment reaching 18,896 last year, up 300 students from the year before, there is a strong chance the district will need to reopen at least one of its four closed schools. As favorably as trustees view Grace Brethren, they want to keep alive the option of reviving Arcane as a public school.

“We want to treat them right, but if we need it, we need it,” said board President Norm Walker.

In a July letter to board members, Beaty suggested buying the two schools. Should board members reject the idea, he also listed other options Grace Brethren would pursue, including purchasing just one of the two campuses, or one of the other shuttered public schools.

If Grace Brethren and the district can’t reach an agreement, Beaty said his school would shop around Simi for another site.

With several trustees inclined to wait for the boundary study’s completion before deciding Arcane’s future, Beaty said he hoped the district wouldn’t delay too long. He would like a decision before preregistration for Grace Brethren Schools begins in February or March. But he said he was willing to work with district officials while they try to assess their needs.

“One thing I’ve learned through this whole thing is patience,” Beaty said.