Emery School District Explains $1.5 Million Oakland School Lease

Emery High School Students To Move To Temporary Digs, In Oakland

The Emery Unified School District announced today that they will lease Oakland's Santa Fe Elementary School for three years in order to house High School students while the Center of Community Life is constructed on the site of the High School this fall.  Emery will pay Oakland Unified School District $1.5 million for the use of Santa Fe it was announced.  Emery intends on using available Emeryville taxpayer funded Measure J money to finance the deal.

Santa Fe School, on the east Emeryville border with Oakland, was recently closed by the Oakland School District as a way to save money for that cash strapped School District.

Emery School Superindendant
Dr. Debbra Lindo

Emery School Superintendent Debbra Lindo told the Tattler that even though the Emery School District owns shuttered Ralph Hawley Middle School in north Emeryville, that school is not adequate to house the High School, "We had to find a facility conducive to the High School's programmatic needs.  Ralph Hawley was considered but Santa Fe, being larger was compelling.  We took the opportunity to request it." she said.

Ralph Hawley School was built to house some 200 middle school students and Oakland's Santa Fe School has close to the same number of classrooms but nearly twice the outdoor space, including a baseball field.  Emery High now has approximately 210 students.

Emeryville voter backed Measure J, a $95 million 2010 school bond initiative, provides for interim housing during the construction phase of the Center of Community Life, expected to begin in the fall.

District officials brokered the lease of the Santa Fe School in 'closed session' noting that public real estate deals are generally made without public scrutiny, "Real estate deals are particularly susceptible to being subverted [by would be rouge public malcontents and the like] and the law provides this level of public constraint.  It's standard procedure." said one official.