Ventura College District Explores New Campus in Santa Paula

Officials with the Ventura County Community College District are taking steps to potentially establish a new college campus in Santa Paula. This comes three years after discussions to acquire land from the agricultural firm Limoneira for educational purposes. Although the property remains unutilized farmland, the district’s board of trustees met on August 21, 2023, to discuss the feasibility of a new campus, signaling renewed interest in the project.

During the meeting held at the Museum of Ventura County Agricultural Museum, the trustees did not reach a formal vote but agreed to initiate a study on the possibility of acquiring land in Santa Paula. The Limoneira property, which spans approximately 20 acres, is situated south of Highway 126 and east of Hallock Drive, adjacent to the new Harvest at Limoneira residential development. Limoneira has proposed selling 8 to 10 acres of this land for around $1 million per acre.

Trustee Lou Lichtl commented on the financial considerations, stating, “We know there’s a property available to us for $8 million or $10 million, but we need to look at building a building, and if you know anything about building schools, that’s a $100 million proposition.” He expressed a desire to see the project come to fruition, noting, “When the time is right, I want to cut that ribbon on that land and that property and that building … but we have a lot of work to do.”

As discussions regarding a new campus continue, the college district is also expanding its current operational footprint in Santa Paula. The existing Ventura College East Campus is undergoing a 2,800-square-foot expansion, which will introduce an additional classroom and two science labs, increasing the total to seven classrooms and two labs. The budget for the East Campus has significantly increased over the past four years, from $1.5 million in the 2021-22 academic year to $4.7 million this year.

Enrollment figures further illustrate the growing demand for educational services, with the equivalent of 419 full-time students now attending classes at the East Campus, a substantial rise from just 72 four years ago. Despite this progress, the current numbers fall short of the state’s requirements for certification as a “learning center,” which necessitates at least 500 full-time equivalent students and a proven capacity to serve a minimum of 1,000 students, as explained by Rick MacLennan, the district’s chancellor. “We’re on our way, but we’re not there yet,” MacLennan stated. “We will be evaluated very carefully by the state chancellor’s office, and we have to have all our ducks in a row.”

If the proposed Santa Paula campus receives the necessary certification, it could unlock approximately $2.3 million in annual state funding, a welcome boost for local educational resources. The Santa Clara River Valley has been advocating for a community college campus since 2002, when Ventura County voters approved a $356 million bond measure intended to support such initiatives. However, the district later abandoned plans for the campus, citing rising construction costs and dwindling funds, leading many residents to feel betrayed.

Local community members, including Jose Garcia, a union organizer, voiced their frustrations regarding the ongoing lack of access to educational opportunities. “I’ve watched generations of young people in my city grow up full of potential, but without access to the opportunity they deserve,” Garcia remarked. Santa Paula Mayor Pedro Chavez echoed these sentiments, emphasizing the need for timely decisions to secure land for future generations. “We need leadership, and we need vision,” Chavez stated. “That land might not be available in the future. … We need to make these decisions now for future generations.”

College district leaders recognize the importance of addressing the educational needs in the Santa Clara River Valley. Trustee Joe Piechowski noted that rectifying the situation created by previous board decisions is a long-term endeavor, saying, “We can’t rectify a problem that was created by the board 20 years ago overnight.”

Interestingly, the Limoneira property is also earmarked for a new county hospital, although that project has encountered delays. Plans for the hospital would place it on the northern section of the property, nearer to Highway 126, while the proposed college campus would occupy the southern end. The county had announced intentions to build the hospital on this site back in 2021, but progress has stalled, with county leaders indicating that the plan remains under evaluation.

Limoneira CEO Harold Edwards expressed optimism about the potential synergy between the college and healthcare initiatives, stating, “Wouldn’t it be cool if you had a medical office building and eventually a hospital and a college campus, so the whole thing felt like it was a campus? There would be all kinds of opportunities to collaborate between the community college and the health care industry.”

As the district navigates this complex landscape, the outcome of their feasibility study and future decisions will have lasting implications for educational access in the region. This story was reported by Tony Biasotti, an investigative and watchdog reporter for the Ventura County Star.