OUSD says it has no use for old Mission school building

By: KEITH RUSHING - Staff Writer | Sunday, August 6, 2006 8:15 PM PDT ∞

OCEANSIDE ---- School district trustees will consider a recommendation Tuesday to relinquish any possible ownership of an old schoolhouse the district once operated at Mission San Luis Rey.

Associate Superintendent Robyn Phillips said Oceanside Unified School District administrators had no idea the district had owned or used the building on mission property until recently when mission officials informed them about it.

"We had no sense we would have any claim to this particular building," Phillips said Friday.

The school building, called Peyri Hall, may have housed two or three classrooms at some point and is in poor condition, Phillips said.

While officials were unaware that the district might have once owned the building, a 1911 agreement between the then-Libby Elementary School District and Mission San Luis Rey states that ownership of Peyri Hall would revert back to the mission if the district ceased operating a school there, according to the trustees' background material. The Libby school district was later consolidated into the Oceanside Unified School District, Phillips said.

In background material, Phillips said Mission officials plan to lease the property so retirement housing can be built there, but they want to clear up any confusion about the ownership of Peyri Hall.

Although a title report states that the land Peyri Hall sits on belongs to the Diocese of San Diego, Phillips said, it is "ambiguous" about whether the district or the mission owns the building.

"It's clear the land is not ours," Phillips said. "Maybe we would have some vague claim to the building."

Phillips said there was some indication that the district had some involvement with Peyri Hall in 1959, but that it's not clear the building was being used as a school. The last time classes were taught there isn't clear to district administrators.

"It's been many, many years," Phillips said, adding, "The building has no value and is of no use to us."

When Mission officials visited the school in recent weeks, they asked for a letter stating that the district had no interest in the building and that no school has been operated there for many years.

District administrators consulted with an attorney about the matter and decided to recommend that trustees authorize Superintendent Ken Noonan to draft a letter making it clear that the district doesn't have any interest in Peyri Hall.

At the trustees meeting, set for 6:30 p.m. in the district's headquarters at 2111 Mission Ave., the board is also expected to hear an update from Deputy Superintendent Larry Perondi about the status of three academic recovery centers, which the district plans to open later this month.

The centers at Oceanside and El Camino high schools are being created to help students ---- behind in courses needed for graduation ---- get the credits they need to graduate on time. The center at Clair Burgener Academy is aimed at luring high school-age teens who aren't enrolled in the district's high schools, including dropouts, back to the district.

Contact staff writer Keith Rushing at (760) 901-4151 or krushing@nctimes. To comment, go to nctimes.com.

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