Yorba Linda : School Board May Shift Meeting Site

The building that housed the old Yorba Linda School District offices may once again be the site of Board of Trustees meetings.

The Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District plans to convert the building, now being used as a storage and training facility, to a meeting facility. The district hopes to avoid expensive renovations to the current meeting room. Meetings are now held at the district education center in Placentia in a small room that cannot accommodate people in wheelchairs.

In order to comply with legislation that requires public meetings to be held in buildings accessible to people with disabilities, the district would have to spend $50,000 to $100,000 renovating the current meeting room, adding wheelchair ramps, walkways and new doors, and building additional restrooms.

However, the Education Services Center, which came into the district as part of the merger between the Placentia School District and the Yorba Linda School District, is already equipped to accommodate wheelchairs, and the building has the required restroom facilities.

According to Richard Philippi, director of maintenance, the only cost to move the meetings to the Yorba Linda site would be the construction of a dais for the Board of Trustees. Cost of building the dais is estimated to be $8,000 to $10,000.

Philippi said the board could probably hold its first meeting in the new facility in January.