School board hears proposals for gyms

Angelique Flores

After months of struggle between school officials and neighbors over

Ocean View School District’s proposed middle school gym construction, the

two sides pulled together, slightly, in presenting recommendations to the

school board Tuesday night.

But the support from residents was far from overwhelming.

The recommendations, made by community advisory committees set up at

each school by the board, were an attempt to lay out what construction

both the school and surrounding neighbors could live with.

“The [community advisory committees] resulted in good community

dialogue with objective compromises on the project,” Supt. Jim Tarwater

said.

While many of the neighbors understand the need for children to have a

new gym, they have been uneasy about the proposed details of the plan for

Marine View, Mesa View, Spring View and Vista View middle schools.

The most contentious issue was the rental of the gyms to outside

athletic organizations. All four committees requested that the gyms be

limited to use by the school only.

In response, the board requested legal advice on whether they can

ensure that the gyms will not be rented out in the future.

Residents also raised concerns about the size, location and cost of

each gym.

The committees each had their ideas of how tall, how big and where the

buildings should be. Committee members from Mesa View and Spring View

want the gyms limited to one basketball court, and all four groups wanted

the height limited, with the floor perhaps being under ground level if

possible.

School board members welcomed the input.

“You can’t make decisions until you have all the information,” Trustee

Barbara Boskovich said. “The bottom line is cost.”

Trustee Carol Kanode said she plans to consider each committee’s

ideas, but agreed that much of the decision-making will rely on the

funding.

“This is not an easy project,” Boskovich said. “ There are a lot of

questions out there.”

Still, some residents did not wholeheartedly agree with the

recommendations.

“The community has acted in good faith, in putting forth a compromise,

but not fully endorsing a gymnasium,” Spring View resident Stefan

Rubendall said. “[The recommendation] is not what the community wants,

it’s what the community was willing to compromise.”

Residents from the Marine View area submitted their own draft of

recommendations along with 81 signatures in support of it.

“We feel that our document spells it out clearer, and is not in any

way ambiguous,” said resident Leslie Theobald, who called the committee’s

recommendation “wordy and not clear or concise.”

Kanode promised to consider the group’s recommendations.

“We’ll look at it and hopefully be able to address all their

concerns,” Kanode said.

Answers to the questions raised by the board members about details

such as funding and design will be presented at the next study session.

The board will meet for the study session at 7 p.m., April 3 at the

district office to further review the recommendations.

The district is located at 17200 Pinehurst Lane, Huntington Beach.