Chandler district buying land for new schools

The Chandler Unified School District governing board recently approved the purchase of two plots of land to hold future schools. The first lot is 13 acres south of Ocotillo and west of Power Road in Gilbert. It will be purchased for $98,000 per acre at a total of about $1.27 million, plus closing costs, from bond funds approved by voters in 2006. It is being targeted as an elementary school site. The second lot is about 31 acres at Power and Riggs roads in Queen Creek. It will be purchased for $78,500 per acre or $1.80 per square foot — a total of approximately $2.4 million — plus closing costs, from bond funds approved by voters in 2006 and 2010. That lot may be used for a small high school. The first school may open in 2015, “give or take a year,” said district spokesman Terry Locke. “The early part is identifying the land. All of our growth is in the far eastern part of our district – south Gilbert,” he said. “These two schools are just projected. They could open in 2015, give or take a year given a whole lot of factors — economy, growth, the housing market.” The district is now finishing work on Carlson Elementary School, which will open in July. That campus will hold some classrooms that teach based on the Chandler Traditional Academy model, and some that teach based on the classic elementary school model, Locke said. Enrollment boundaries for the school, located in the Valencia community, are one-square mile bounded by Chandler Heights, Riggs, Gilbert and Lindsay roads. There will be between 500 and 600 students next school year, with capacity for 950 students. The district currently has 39,500 students. It is the only district in the East Valley building a new campus at this time.

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