Local government leaders from Hollister and San Benito County received an update last week on a future Hollister School District site to be built near the Santana Ranch housing development.
Hollister School District Director of Facilities John Teliha said the district expects to request proposals for design of a new kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school, with a draft of the proposal to be submitted to the district on Nov. 13.
Teliha reported on negotiations with Anderson Homes, the developer of Santana Ranch, at an intergovernmental committee meeting on Nov. 2. The school district has negotiated with the developer for the last two years on a potential school site at the northeast corner of Sunnyslope Road and Fairview Road.
“We’re moving forward with the intent to build a school at that site,” Teliha said of the 12.25-acre property. The location of the school site has changed numerous times because of land-use issues.
County Board Chairman Jaime De La Cruz asked if the new site would provide enough space for a playground.
Teliha explained that the school district is looking at creating play areas, because the school would be a two-story structure.
“We are actually requesting for developers to provide a re-use project, a school that’s already been built that could be put on our footprint,” Teliha said. “We’re hoping to expedite the design timeframe.”
The new school is estimated to be completed in August 2020 and will be designed for kindergarten through eighth grade.
