Local News in Brief : Paramount : High School Fund Expected

After a three-year struggle for money to expand its overcrowded high school, the Paramount Unified School District has received some encouraging news. “We have received pretty good assurance that we will get about $3 million,” Supt. Richard Caldwell said.

The district could know within four to six weeks, Caldwell said. The state Allocation Board, which distributes school construction funds, must give its approval.

At a recent meeting in Sacramento, which included school and state officials, Paramount City Council members and Assemblyman Paul E. Zeltner (R-Bellflower), a tentative agreement was reached, Zeltner said. Under the agreement, which must receive final approval from the Allocation Board, the district would receive about $3 million.

“That’s the good news. We still need $6 million,” Caldwell said.

The district needs about $9 million to build a two-story multiclassroom structure and five additional classrooms to relieve overcrowded conditions at Paramount High School, Caldwell said.

The additional money is dependent upon a pending $800-million statewide school bond issue, which the Assembly is debating.

The high school, built in the early 1950s to accommodate less than 1,000 students, now has 2,700, Caldwell said. Because of the overcrowded conditions, about 900 students must use a former elementary school as an annex.