NEW SCHOOL GETS CLOSER TO REALITY ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS ARE FINALLY OUT OF THE WAY.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

MOJAVE - Mojave Unified School District moved one step closer to building a long-awaited high school in California City after declaring that the project would not have a significant effect on the environment.

Delayed by the discovery of a protected desert tortoise and the need to search for unexploded bombs that might be left over from World War II training, construction is set to start later this year, about a year and a half behind schedule.

``It will be the fall or winter of 2005, if we are fortunate,'' Superintendent Larry Phelps said. ``The bond was approved three years ago in March, and we've yet to get on the property.''

The board last week approved a environmental report that stated the high school project will not result in any significant environmental harm.

Designed for 600 students, California City High will help ease crowding at Mojave High School and eliminate the need for California City teens to travel to Mojave for school.

A $16 million bond measure approved by local voters in 2002 will finance construction of the high school and a California City elementary school.

Mojave must still survey the high school property and a proposed site for the elementary school for any unexploded bombs left from when the area north of what is now Edwards Air Force Base was used for training military pilots. Mojave Airport was a Marine base.

The ordnance survey should be completed by June, Phelps said.

The discovery in 2003 of a desert tortoise on the high school site threatened to delay the project indefinitely, but the district worked out an agreement with federal officials to erect a fence to prevent the lumbering reptiles from wandering into the work area.

The initial cost of the high school was $22.5 million, but the district is being told that construction costs have gone up 30 percent. The state will pay for half of the cost of both the high school and elementary school projects.

The high school will be built on a 33-acre portion of a 64-acre site owned by the district at the southeast corner of Rusche Boulevard and Mendiburu Road, according to the environmental report.

The 83,140-square-foot high school will include 25 permanent classrooms and five future relocatable classrooms. The school is designed to hold 600 students but will initially serve 450 students, the report said.

The staff will include 28 teachers and additional administrative and support personnel.

There will be a gymnasium; a football stadium with a track and seating for 1,000; baseball and softball fields with seating for 200; basketball and volleyball courts; and a soccer field.

``The new school will be somewhat contemporary in design, and designed with colors which follow a natural palate, reminiscent of the Spanish mission style,'' the report said.

Karen Maeshiro, [phone]

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com