GARDEN GROVE HIGH, the oldest school in the district, will be getting the newest building with a two-story modular classroom structure. Above is the north gym (OC Tribune photo).

By Jim Tortolano/Orange County Tribune

That’s the student slang term for the set of portable classrooms huddled at the northeast corner of the Garden Grove High School campus.

At Tuesday’s meeting of the Garden Grove Unified School District Board of Education, a construction project contract for a two-story modular classroom building to replace the portables was approved on a 3-0 vote.

Board members Terri Rocco and Walter Muneton were absent.

The new structure, similar to another two-story classroom building erected on campus in the early 2000s, will replace 24 classrooms in portables now in place and will yield enough space to restore up to 50 parking spots or four outdoor basketball courts.

According to board president Bob Harden, rising enrollment at GGHS is making the move necessary. The “landlocked” campus is full, and “there’s nowhere to go but up.”

Board member Lan Nguyen asked why a permanent structure wouldn’t be preferable. Rick Nakano, assistant superintendent for business services, said “It is permanent,” although constructed in  a modular format and will have “a very long useful life” in addition to being less expensive than other construction methods. 

The price of the project is $4,550,931.

The next meeting of the GGUSD board is Tuesday, July 19. GGUSD is a K-12 district serving most of Garden Grove as well as parts of Anaheim, Cypress, Fountain Valley, Santa Ana, Stanton and Westminster.

Tagged as: Garden Grove, Garden Grove High School, Garden Grove Unified School District