By Jon Chown
The Pajaro Valley Unified School District is looking at possibly selling part of the Aptos High School and Amesti School campuses, as well as other properties deemed surplus, after the Board of Trustees voted May 6 to create a 7-11 advisory committee to study the issue.
The committee will review district-owned properties that officials say are underused, vacant or potentially no longer needed for classroom instruction because of declining enrollment and long-term planning changes. The district has experienced continual declining enrollment and increasing deficits that are forcing difficult financial decisions.
“We must maximize the educational value of every asset the district owns,” said Chief Business Officer Gerardo Castillo. “This committee will identify properties that we don’t use to generate revenue and reduce unnecessary maintenance costs.”
Gerardo said he was shocked the district, being as large as it is, did not already have a 7-11 committee.
“When we have a vacant land, we still have to maintain it and our custodians still go there. We still have liability,” he said.
Under California law, school districts can form what is commonly called a “7-11 Committee” to advise boards on whether property should be sold, leased or repurposed. State Education Code requires the committee to include between seven and 11 members representing areas such as land use planning, real estate, environmental impacts, construction and community interests.
District officials identified two specific properties for immediate review.
The PVUSD is reviewing a possible sale of this section of Amesti Elementary School deemed “surplus.”
One is about three acres near Amesti Elementary School at 337 Green Valley Road in Watsonville. According to district documents, the land contains trees and has “low utilization” compared with its possible market value. Depending on water access and soil quality, three acres of agricultural land in Watsonville could be worth as much as $1 million.
The second is a wooded section in the northwest area of the Aptos High School campus above the athletic fields. The committee will also have authority to examine any other district-owned property that could become surplus within the next three years. That includes facilities affected by enrollment declines or buildings no longer being used.
Gerardo said the committee’s role is advisory only. Members will gather information, hold public meetings and conduct at least one formal public hearing before making recommendations to the board.
The process will follow California’s open meeting laws, including public notice requirements under the Brown Act.
According to the district report, the committee will evaluate each property based on district needs, possible alternative uses and community impact before issuing a written report to trustees.
The district said possible benefits could include generating revenue from underused land, reducing maintenance costs and making sure vacant properties are used effectively.
No fiscal impact is expected from creating the committee itself, according to the district. Any future financial decisions involving the sale, lease or reuse of district property would return to the board for additional review and approval. Any future proposal to sell or transfer district land would require additional public hearings and board action.
Still, Trustee Gabriel Medina said he was concerned and asked what guard rails the board would adopt to prevent a private development deal that cut the community out of the process. Castillo said the committee is the guard rail, so trustees should be mindful of who they appoint. There is also the process, in which the Board of Trustees ultimately makes the decision.
Medina said he wouldn’t feel comfortable with any requests until a new board that he presumably leads is in place, and was happy to hear it would take two to three years before any recommendations were in place.
Superintendent Heather Contreras explained that it was really the public that should be giving the board direction on this matter. The committee would be made from the public, but would have legal requirements by the state to include specific professional experience and backgrounds, such as Realtors, land-use planners, and attorneys.
“These are people in the community with the best knowledge to give the best recommendation to the board,” she said.
Trustee Misty Navarro said fellow Trustees Oliva Flores and Carol Turley went to a seminar and discovered a lot of inventive ideas other districts have come up with, including renting space to art galleries, creating transitional housing, and one district actually leased land to a hospitality corporation that built a hotel and the district is collecting ongoing revenue from it.
So there’s actually a multitude of things we can do with these properties to not only generate extra spaces for our community, but also ongoing revenue,” she said.
The vote to establish the committee passed 6-0 with Medina abstaining.
TOP PHOTO: The PVUSD is reviewing a possible sale of this section of Aptos High School deemed “surplus.”