GILROY
– It’s official: Gilroy’s second comprehensive high school, set
to open in 2008, will be named Christopher High School, in exchange
for a $6 million land donation.
GILROY – It’s official: Gilroy’s second comprehensive high school, set to open in 2008, will be named Christopher High School, in exchange for a $6 million land donation.
School board trustees formally approved a land donation-and-purchase deal Thursday that will let the district rebuild Las Animas Elementary School in South Gilroy, potentially on the site it has sought for more than a year.
The board accepted garlic rancher Don Christopher’s donation of 9.57 acres of a 15.05-acre parcel located in the planned Glen Loma Ranch development. The district will buy the remaining 5.48 acres of the parcel, not owned by Christopher, for a total of $2.97 million.
A new elementary school is expected to open in South Gilroy – possibly on the donated land or another, preferred site within Glen Loma Ranch – in 2006 to replace the aging Las Animas Elementary School on Wren Avenue.
Trustees also approved changing the board’s policy for naming school facilities in order to recognize the Christopher family donation without going to a citizens advisory committee.
“I think this is a historic event, we just named our second high school Christopher High School,” Superintendent Edwin Diaz told the board. “We need to … acknowledge the contribution of Don Christopher and to congratulate him and his family for having the honor of having the second high school named after their family in recognition of the contributions that they’ve made to Gilroy public schools.”
GUSD plans to open Christopher High School in 2008, possibly on 50 acres at Day Road and Santa Teresa Boulevard annexed into Gilroy city limits last summer.
The district agreed to purchase a 3.45-acre share of the parcel, located on the southeast corner of Santa Teresa Boulevard and Miller Avenue, from Bill and Benita Reimal and the remaining 2.06 acres from Bill Christopher, Don’s son.
Currently being negotiated is a land swap in which Gilroy Unified School District would trade 10 acres of the newly-acquired parcel for 10 acres on Greenfield Drive. That property, owned by the Glen Loma Group, has been the district’s preferred site for a new Las Animas, already underwent preliminary environmental reviews.
“We see several potential uses for this site: an elementary school site and park or green area; swap 10 acres for the Greenfield Drive site and hold the remainder for future use or sale; sell to acquire a site for an elementary school and potential other capital use of proceeds; or some combination of those alternatives,” said Steve Brinkman, assistant superintendent of administrative services.
GUSD will pay $518,000 per acre for slightly more than five acres of the parcel, paying less than $3 million total. The entire 15-acre parcel is valued at $9 million. The parcel includes a three-acre grove of eucalyptus trees that will likely remain a park area whether developed by the district or another group, Brinkman said.
