Struggling State Budget Will Keep New $105M School Closed

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California school district has spent $105 million on a new state-of-the-art high school but now doesn't have the money to operate it.

The Los Angeles Times reports Tuesday that Alvord Unified School District is building Hillcrest High School to relieve overcrowding. But after three years of state funding cuts totaling some $25 million, it doesn't have the funding for staff and overhead to open it in September.

The school board in the Riverside County district has postponed opening the school for a year. But even then there's no guarantee that the district will be financially able to take on the extra expense.

In the meantime, the district will spend about $1 million in security and maintenance for the empty campus.

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