Opening of new school delayed

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT COAST -- Students enrolled at Newport Coast Elementary School

this fall will have to wait until January to move into their new

classrooms.

The school, which sits on the corner of Newport Coast Drive and Ridge

Park Road in Newport Beach, was scheduled to open Sept. 5 with 350

students in kindergarten through sixth grade. Those children will now

spend the first four months of school at Lincoln Elementary School in

Corona del Mar.

When students return from winter break on Jan. 8, they occupy their new

school. Although disappointed, Newport Coast parents said they understand

and are being patient about the delay.

“My father always says, ‘People make plans and God laughs,’ ” said Denise

Molnar, Newport Coast PTA president. “All the parents have been very

supportive, but it’s sort of sad.”

Just two months before the school was scheduled to open, project manager

Jim Reed on Tuesday said construction is only about 57% complete.

A major delay in construction is the absence of windows, said Mike Fine,

the district’s assistant superintendent of business services.

“We hoped the manufacturer would come through with them, but it has

become a critical issue for us,” Fine said.

But the late delivery of windows was just the most recent in a series of

delays, Reed said.

The project has been behind schedule since enormous boulders were

discovered when the site was being leveled, he said. The process of

removing the large masses of rock caused an initial setback. The delay

was lengthened by two weeks of rain.

Construction crews are doing all they can until the windows arrive, Reed

said. But without the glass panes in place, exterior walls and much of

the interior work, such as cabinetry, carpeting and painting, cannot be

done.

One upside to the postponement is that there will be no street work while

students are in school, Reed said. The county is planning to widen Ridge

Park Road where the entrance to the school is located. The street was

supposed to be widened during the summer and completed by September, but

the work has not yet been started. However, the road construction will be

finished by the time the school is done, Reed said.

Another bit of good news is that at Newport Coast -- unlike the problems

experienced when Eastbluff Elementary School reopened with no playground

or grass -- everything will be completed and in place when students

arrive in January.

“The one positive thing is everything will be done,” Fine said. “The

grass will be green and mowed.”

Although unfortunate, Fine said, the delay is no reason for alarm because

there is enough room for the Newport Coast students at Lincoln.

In fact, Newport Coast students will be divided into their own separate

classes, so the transition will be easier.

Newport Coast Principal Monique Van Zeebroeck has also assured parents

that all academic programs and extracurricular activities will begin as

planned in September.

Parents seem to be taking the news in stride.

“I think parents understand,” Molnar said. “It’s disappointing, but

there’s nothing you can do.”