Vista Meridian Global Academy will continue to rent campus classrooms until the end of the fall semester

A charter high school will continue to rent campus classrooms for its several hundred students until Rancho Santiago Community College District approves a lease agreement for the second floor of the Digital Media Center.

Vista Meridian Global Academy, a charter school that opened in 2021, outgrew its previous facility on Fairview and Fifth Street, which now houses its elementary and middle schools.

After several failed attempts at leasing other properties during the spring semester, the school was able to take quick advantage of its existing relationship with Santa Ana College through dual enrollment to find a last-minute place for its students.

“We’ve had ongoing great relationships with SAC…and when we were in a pinch, I was able to reach out, and we were able to come to this arrangement,” said Deputy Superintendent of Vista Charter Public Schools Collin Felch.

Vista Meridian students were not informed classes would be held at SAC until Aug. 9, three days before the start of the semester.

That same day, the RSCCD Board of Trustees approved an intent to lease the second floor of the DMC, an off-campus building on Bristol Street and Edinger Avenue. In the meantime, officials agreed to rent Vista Meridian classrooms on SAC’s main campus.

The DMC lease could be approved as early as October; however, Vista Meridian may not be able to move in immediately. The second floor of the DMC was once home to the small business development center, which occupied the space until the past few months.

“There could be some things they might need to do, some improvements they might need to make to the facility after they enter into the lease that might prevent them from moving in sooner rather than later,” said Vice President of Administrative Services Dr. Bart Hoffman.

The process of entering a lease agreement is long and bureaucratic, with many steps that must be made before the district executes it. One of these steps is the lease has to be published in a newspaper for three weeks before it can be made official.

“Once we reach an agreement and Vista Meridian signs the lease, it will go to the Board of Trustees for approval, and if the Board of Trustees approves, then it will be executed by the district,” said Hoffman.

While the lease is being drafted and approved, the high school uses SAC’s facilities rental agreement, which allows nonprofits to rent campus facilities hourly. Vista Meridian students currently occupy classrooms in buildings A, C, D, and H, which will cost nearly $23,000 by the end of the fall term.

Three weeks after the start of the fall semester, SAC students were informed by the college via email that Vista Meridian students would be using campus classrooms. “We expect all students, including those from high schools, to adhere to our student conduct policies and uphold the standards of our academic community.”

A week later, SAC faculty was informed via a similar email.

Although the lease agreement with Vista Meridian is in the works and could be approved as early as October, if a lease is not approved, Felch said they will have to go “back to the drawing board.”