approximately 126 at Olympic High School — the district’s only continuation school.
The new high school would most likely house a considerably smaller population — perhaps less than 500 — and help ease the class sizes at Samohi. The site of Olympic High School, at Ocean Park Boulevard and Lincoln Boulevard — which houses the continuation school, an adult learning education center, special education and child care centers — has been tapped as the front-running site for the new high school.
The Board of Education on Thursday discussed the possibility of forming a task force to explore the feasibility of adding another high school, researching the success of similar, smaller learning communities across the country.
The task force — which would consist of secondary school administrators, parents, district staff, teachers, the teachers union, students and school board members — would also bear the responsibility of exploring models of other small high schools that don’t offer some of the traditional extracurricular activities, such as sports. The schools are specialized in nature, catering to different educational interests than a typical high school.
“The problem is, if you make it into a high school... there isn’t a lot of space at (Olympic) to develop an athletic space and a lot of things you would associate with a high school population,” said Virginia Hyatt, the district’s director of purchasing.
The idea of forming a committee received unanimous support from school board members and will most likely be approved for formation at its next meeting on Aug. 23. The task force would be responsible for presenting their findings by June 2008.
“I think it’s a marvelous idea,” said board member Jose Escarce.
California state education code requires every district to operate a continuation high school for students who fall behind in credits. If a new secondary school is built on the Olympic High site, it could share the property with the continuation school, said Superintendent Dianne Talarico on Friday.
Another option would be to find a permanent site for the continuation school as well as the Community Day School, a similar program for high school students to make up their credits. The program is currently housed at the Police Activities League on 14th Street and Olympic Boulevard.
“PAL has been kind enough to let us use it for the past two years,” Talarico said. “This year, we’re looking at planning to transition out of there.”
This coming school year, the day school will be housed at PAL through lunch time, before moving to a classroom in Santa Monica College in the afternoon.
OTHER OPTIONS FOR OLYMPIC There are a few other options considered for the Olympic site, which includes keeping the continuation school as is, but expanding the population from the current 125 to 250 students.
In improving the continuation school as part of the Facilities Master Plan — which outlines structural and educational improvements at the district over the next 20 years — school officials are also considering moving the day school to the Olympic site.
Some of the projects outlined under the master plan will be funded through revenue streams such as the $268 million Measure BB bond money.
Harry Keiley, the president of the teacher’s union, said he always drives by Olympic High School, imagining what could be developed on the site, calling it a “prime piece of property in Santa Monica.”
He raised the possibility of selling the site, wondering about the property’s assessed value.
“It may not be the most desirable place to build a school, but it’s still a desirable piece of property — 10 blocks from the beach in Santa Monica, California,” he said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 11, 2007. Read the original PDF.