San Bruno officials eye school district land

Though details of the conversation cannot be shared publicly, City Manager Jovan Grogan acknowledged the community’s interest in the city acquiring the school district’s land.

“The city has had two closed sessions with regard to the El Crystal property and we certainly know the public sentiment that has been expressed around potentially finding a way to acquire the property,” he said. “And respecting the confidentiality of property negotiations and closed session, we have no further comment at this time.”

The closed session meetings occurred on the heels of councilmembers in January instructing Grogan to engage in talks with school district representatives regarding the site.

San Bruno Park Elementary School District officials had reached an agreement last year to sell the site to the Stratford School for $13.5 million, but the deal fell through after the private school determined it could not afford renovation costs.

A representative from the Stratford School confirmed that the private institution is still in discussions with the district regarding the site as well.

School district Superintendent Jose Espinoza said proceeds from the sale had been earmarked for renovating other school facilities and the deal falling through limited the district’s capacity to afford the projects.

With a renovation of Allen Middle School expected to consume about $50 million of the $79 million generated from the district’s last bond program, Espinoza said proceeds generated from the El Crystal sale could be critical in affording other capital improvements.

“If we are truly going to be able to address the facilities needs in our district then we need to sell El Crystal or whatever we can do,” he said.

The comments alluded to some difference of opinion among school district officials over whether it is best for the school system to sell the property, or maintain ownership and lease the land.

For his part, Espinoza suggested the district’s best hope to raise the money needed to complete the projects promised to the public as part of the bond campaign is to sell the site.

“If we truly want to deliver on all these projects, we really don’t have a lot of options to be able to do that,” he said.

He added school officials are attempting to more clearly understand the scope of the work needed across the district through a forthcoming facilities master plan.

The opportunity to sell the El Crystal campus would continue the trend of school districts in San Bruno making property deals.

Last year, the elementary school district also agreed to sell the expansive former Engvall Middle School site for $79.5 million. Home builder Pulte Home Company acquired the 21 acres leased by the San Bruno Golf Center to develop the site zoned for single-family homes.

The agreement was reached in the wake of a similar deal made by San Mateo Union High School District officials, who approved selling the former Crestmoor High School campus in San Bruno to D.R. Horton, which plans to build between 120 and 200 homes at 300 Piedmont Ave.

Despite the recent history of school land being redeveloped into housing, city officials who expressed interest in the El Crystal campus saw it as an opportunity to expand the city’s park and recreation operations.

“The school site next to our beautiful San Bruno City Park should not go ignored,” San Bruno Councilmember Linda Mason said in a January discussion regarding the site. Mason’s husband Andy Mason is the president of the San Bruno Park Elementary School District Board of Trustees.

Looking ahead, Espinoza said the school district is obligated to keep all the options on the table with the assets it has to assure it is best serving the community.

“Obviously our district has a responsibility to the students and to the staff of our district, which means we need to be able to leverage our properties, our funding, our budget to really help support our students,” he said.

austin@smdailyjournal.com