The Willow Glen Resident

SJUSD votes to reopen school--with a little help

Nearby developer will foot bill to renovate and expand Canoas Elementary School

By Rebecca Wallace

In a time of downsizing, the San Jose Unified School District is planning to re-open a school it closed 16 years ago.

The SJUSD board voted enthusiastically last week to reopen Canoas Elementary School on the outskirts of Willow Glen for the 2000-2001 school year--with the help of developers building nearly 1,000 homes on the Rubino property adjacent to the school.

The Fremont-based developers Kaufman and Broad have agreed to pay up to $4,962,500 to renovate and expand the school, increasing its capacity from about 350 to 600 students, said Gerald Matranga, associate superintendent for administrative services.

"It's so nice to be able to reopen a school instead of closing it," Carol Myers, vice president of the SJUSD board of trustees, said after the unanimous April 23 vote. "And we needed [the developers'] help. You can't afford to be building so many homes and have this old school here that hasn't been brought up to standard."

The school, located at 880 Wren Drive, was closed in June 1982 because of a population decline in the area. The SJUSD had grown to serve more than 40,000 students, and then enrollment declined, Superintendent Linda Murray said.

Officials at Challeger School, who have been leasing out the Canoas facility and using it for one of their schools, could not be reached for comment.

"We saw something that was good for the school district and good for our community. I think it's going to be a win-win situation," said Robert Freed, president of the South Bay division of Kaufman and Broad.

Matranga agreed, saying, "The developer saw that the need was there, and we worked collaboratively."

Canoas Elementary will chiefly serve the children living in the new development, but may include students on the eastern side of Willow Glen who might otherwise attend Schallenberger Elementary, Matranga said. The district plans to hold public meetings to determine how the boundaries will be redrawn.

"Schallenberger could lose some students, which likely wouldn't hurt them. Most of our elementary schools are just burgeoning," Myers said.

The development neighboring Canoas Elementary is planned to have 538 homes, including townhouses and detached homes, with prices ranging from the middle $200,000s to the high $400,000s, Freed said. There will also be 412 luxury apartments, which will be built under the auspices of a Hayward developer, he said.

Canoas will be the district's 29th elementary school, and the district is still working to open a 30th--the planned school on the Tamien site near the Tamien light rail station, facilities director Rod Sprecher said.

The 6.78-acre parcel is owned by the Valley Transit Authority, and the district is continuing to negotiate with the group to buy it. Studies of the land are being done, including those to ensure its geotechnical feasibility for a school and to determine whether building on the land would damage archaeological artifacts, Sprecher said.

[ Back to Contents Page | Willow Glen Resident Home Page | Archives ]