A new theater project at Dana Hills High School received a green light, as the Capistrano Unified School District board of trustees voted last night to move forward with the proposed process. The performing arts center project will now go out to bid. Several DHHS students, parents and teachers pleaded with the board to approve the project. They joined a large crowd of theater supporters from Capo Valley and San Clemente high schools, as all three were schools were up for consideration, needing a go-ahead for new theater plans.

 

Students in SOCSA—South Orange County School of the Arts—and others spoke to the board, trying to convey the dire need for a new theater. The current theater, the Porthole, was built as a lecture hall, and is still used as such. Sophomore Serene Jneid, a dancer in SOCSA, told trustees that the students and teachers need a place without limitations, where they can “reach for the stars,” as they’re constantly encouraged to do. “They try to cram us all in the Porthole, but we don’t fit in there,” she said. “We have too much talent.”

 

The majority of the theater supporters were decked in Dolphin blue, wearing SOCSA T-shirts and cheering each other on as they pleaded with the board to consider the project as a benefit to the entire community. SOCSA is more than a high school drama program, they said, and it needs room to grow. The theater could also be used for community groups, speakers said. And the money is there, they insisted, as long as the district backs the projects; theater financiers are plenty.

 

The DHHS and CVHS projects received a Yes vote from trustees, despite staff recommendations to wait until the district had a better idea of its other needs and could view construction of the theaters as three among a list of priorities. Besides the pressure of a theater-supporting crowd, there is pressure of a timeline for receiving a Career Technical Education grant of $3 million for new construction at each of the sites. CUSD has been awarded the grant, but plans must move forward and be approved by the Division of the State Architect by December 2009 in order for the district to receive the money. The grant was designed to be a 50/50 match, but all three projects will far surpass $6 million—Dana Hills’ cost is set at $13 million, CVHS is at $12 million and San Clemente’s will need to be set above the original $5 million, as that quote pertained to renovation plans. Architects have since realized the school will need an entirely new building.

 

Deputy Superintendent Ron Lebs said the district hasn’t yet finished prioritizing its needs. For San Clemente's project, the board went with the staff recommendation, voting to consider that theater under a master facilities plan, which would prioritize several hundred million dollars' worth of needs. Lebs also expressed to the board that funding sources weren’t nailed down, and that they were missing flexibility and safety nets.

 

After the speakers, trustees unanimously approved a motion to authorize the architects to complete the plans. Trustee Mike Darnold, whose children attended DHHS, said he understood how poorly the Porthole suited the school of the arts students. “I’ve been going to the Porthole for a long time and, guys, I don’t even fit in those seats,” he said to a laughing audience.

 

And the money will come, said trustee Anna Bryson. “I personally feel very, very strongly that it’s the time to go forward,” she said. “I’ve never seen such gritty determination in a group of people.”