Meeting to Discuss Selling Off Soccer Fields Postponed

A meeting scheduled today to discuss the future of Peninsula High and whether the Crestmoor High Athletic Fields could be sold has been postponed, the San Mateo Union High School District said.

According to the high school district's website, the study session will take place at the beginning of next year instead of today. Superintendent Scott Laurence is out ill, the school board manager said when reached by Patch. Laurence's involvement in the meeting is necessary, so the board didn't want to proceed unless he was there, the board manager said.

The possible relocation of Peninsula High has set off a contentious debate.

Since San Mateo County voters in 2010 passed Measure O—the $186 million bond measure that will pay off district debt, fund classroom projects and finance a new continuation school to replace the high school district's continuation school—Laurence has suggested that finding another location for Peninsula High would be more cost-effective for the district because more than half of the students live in San Mateo.

Concerns have since been raised about relocating the school to either San Mateo High's or Hillsdale High's campuses.

However, residents who use the athletic fields that are attached to the campus have their own concerns.

The San Bruno AYSO league, which comprises 1,500 youth, has been using the fields for years for their soccer games. Those families are very concerned that the high school district is considering selling the property, which would create problems for the soccer league.

If the district sold the property, they say, it would be a broken promise.

"They promised when the Measure M bond measure was approved that they would use a portion of the funds to make improvements to the Crestmoor site," a flier about the study session stated. "These improvements did not happen. The City of San Bruno maintains the fields on the site for the many sports teams who use them."

Voters passed Measure M in 2006 allowing the high school district to issue $298 million in bonds to improve infrastructure throughout the district’s schools.

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