The Corona-Norco Unified School District will spend $25 million on land to build a high school, with the option of paying an additional $15 million for adjacent land to build another school.
The school board voted Tuesday to purchase 40 to 50 acres southeast of Cajalco and Temescal Canyon roads. A rock quarry now operates on the site but would shut down before the district begins environmental testing.
The agreement covers the entire 110-acre Hubbs Quarry site, which developer Ali Sahabi bought last year.
The district would buy the entire site for $40 million only if officials decide to build another school next door, said Ted Rozzi, the district's assistant superintendent for facilities.
The board also voted to authorize $75 million in bonds for the land acquisition and for improvement projects at nine district schools. The bonds are the first set from a $250 million bond measure that Corona-Norco voters approved in November.
The district will try to finish Rancho Serrano, its sixth comprehensive high school, in time for it to open in 2010, Rozzi said.
Sahabi and district officials have said they hope Rancho Serrano can be a "green school," using environmentally friendly practices. The purchase and sale agreement says Sahabi will work with the district to find funding sources for "green" features.
The agreement says the school's design should be consistent with the Dos Lagos housing and retail complex, which Sahabi and his partners developed just west of the school site.
The district began negotiating nearly a year ago with Sahabi on a site for Rancho Serrano, but they initially talked about a site south of Dos Lagos.
The board also voted Tuesday to spend $196,470 on a contract with Environmental and Regulatory Specialists for an environmental study of the site.
The district has planned for several years to build a high school in southern Corona and the Temescal Valley. Santiago High School, which serves that part of the district, has 4,000 students and was built for 3,500.
Reach Shirin Parsavand at 951-893-2109 or sparsavand@PE.com
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