PUHSD meeting to discuss Liberty High boundaries

An aerial view shows the design of Liberty High School, which will open in August 2021.

By Doug Spoon, Editor

The public is invited to attend and provide feedback at a 5 p.m. board meeting Wednesday of the Perris Union High School District regarding the enrollment boundaries of Liberty High School.

Liberty High is under construction on Leon Road north of Scott Road and will open in August 2021. The goal of Wednesday’s meeting is further discussion and public input regarding the placement of boundaries for that school in the southeast portion of the district.

Some residents representing Menifee spoke at a similar meeting Dec. 18. A study session was held in a special PUHSD meeting on Jan. 9, but no members of the public attended. A presentation that day of four boundary options by a consultant to the district will be repeated Wednesday.

PUHSD board members agreed to place this item at the beginning of Wednesday’s meeting to maximize the opportunity for public input. The agenda item was placed near the end of a three-hour meeting on Dec. 18.

“I thought we were going to have a Town Hall meeting on this,” board member Jose Luis Araux said at the Jan. 9 meeting. “It’s important to get input from the community.”

In making an updated presentation to the board, Dr. Fred Good discussed four alternatives for the Liberty High School boundaries. He also emphasized that open enrollment will be in place, so students can apply for intra-district transfers.

All four options have the same borders on three of the four sides: The 215 Freeway to the west, the southern border of PUHSD to the south (as far as Clinton Keith Road in some areas), and the eastern border of PUHSD to the east (Winchester Road/Highway 79). The discussion concerns the four options for the northern border of the Liberty High area.

The four alternatives for the northern border are:

1. Newport Road/Domenigoni Road: This would create the smallest area for Liberty High and is the one most highly recommended by Good because it allows for growth of the student body. PUHSD projections state that within 10 years, Liberty’s enrollment would be 2,392, with 208 open seats.

2. Matching the MUSD boundary: This option, favored by Menifee Union School District Board President Jackie Johansen, moves more north to include a sliver of land including Freedom Crest Elementary School, the northernmost school in MUSD. In that scenario, Liberty High would be 149 students over capacity in 10 years.

3. Heritage Lake: This would include virtually all of the Heritage Lake community in the Liberty High area. This plan was proposed in the Dec. 18 meeting by a Heritage Lake resident who said voters supporting Measure W in 2018 should be rewarded with this plan.

However, within 10 years under this plan, projections say Liberty would be 554 students over capacity. Meanwhile, Heritage High would have 1,045 open seats.

4. City of Menifee boundaries: This option would extend the Liberty High boundaries all the way north of Highway 74. It would leave Heritage with a reduced portion, mostly, rural, of PUHSD. Under that scenario, projections say Liberty would be 1,443 students over capacity in 10 years, while Heritage would have 1,923 open seats.

All four maps and the data supporting them will be presented at Wednesday’s meeting. It will take place at the PUHSD office, located at 155 E. 4th Street in Perris.