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La Mesa Elementary / Maple Campus

LUSD Workforce Housing / La Mesa site

Working to Reopen La Mesa Elementary and Protect the Maple Campus

Updated 1st of December 2025

Overview

Vandenberg Village was built with two neighborhood elementary schools: La Mesa and Buena Vista. Today, only Buena Vista remains open. La Mesa has been kept closed for decades, even as new neighborhoods have been built, traffic has increased, and families continue to move into the Village.

At the same time, the Lompoc Unified School District (LUSD) is advancing a so-called “workforce housing” project on the Maple / former La Mesa school site at 4010 Jupiter Avenue. On paper it is marketed as “housing for staff.” In reality, state and federal fair housing laws mean the units cannot legally be reserved for “teachers only” — they would function as general rental housing, while permanently removing a rare public school site from educational use.

Leave93436.org is a California nonprofit public benefit organization and public charity under IRC § 170(b)(1)(A)(vi), EIN 39-3822308. Our goal is simple: to compel LUSD to keep the Maple / La Mesa campus in public education use and to reopen La Mesa Elementary as a true neighborhood school for Village families.

We are using every lawful planning, environmental, and public-transparency tool available to slow this project, force honest study of the impacts, and put the option of reopening La Mesa Elementary back on the table.

Why Reopening La Mesa Elementary Matters

Closing La Mesa and concentrating everything onto Buena Vista has not “simplified” education in Vandenberg Village. It has created overcrowding, long daily commutes, and unsafe traffic patterns for children who live within walking distance of a closed school.

Reopening La Mesa and preserving the Maple campus for education would:

  • Restore a true neighborhood school: Many Village families live within a mile of the campus. Instead of walking to class, children are being driven 15–20 minutes into Lompoc or packed onto buses.
  • Reduce overcrowding and strain at Buena Vista: Classroom space, restrooms, and play areas are all under pressure because one of the two original schools has been taken out of service.
  • Improve safety and traffic: Concentrating all student drop-off and pickup at a single campus has increased congestion on narrow residential roads and pushed more school traffic onto Highway 1.
  • Protect public education land: Once a school site is converted to housing, it is effectively gone forever. Future generations lose the ability to use this land for classrooms, youth programs, or expansion.
  • Honor taxpayer investment: Homeowners in 93436 are still paying off prior school bonds and a new $160 million facilities bond. Using that legacy of investment to remove a school site rather than reopen it is the opposite of what residents believed they were funding.
  • Avoid a misleading “teachers only” promise: Even if branded as “teacher housing,” LUSD cannot lawfully restrict tenancy to certificated staff. Any project built on the Maple / La Mesa site would, in reality, be general rental housing sitting on land that was bought, planned, and entitled for public education.

In short: Vandenberg Village needs schools more than it needs speculative apartment-style housing on school land.

You can download our CEQA letters, CPRA requests, and printable materials here.

Rendered proposal

The project’s ripple effects extend beyond education. Both churches adjacent to the site will be forced to convert green space into parking to accommodate increased traffic and weekend/weekday overlap. This will not only rob the community of open space but also push these churches into unnecessary debt to fund parking renovations.

From a financial perspective, the project raises major red flags. Despite claims that no general fund dollars will be used, the District is already burdened with hundreds of millions in obligations. Pursuing new developments before paying down existing debt and stabilizing current campuses is irresponsible — especially when it involves giving up a functioning school site that could instead be renovated and reopened.

What We’ve Done So Far

Leave93436.org has taken concrete steps to defend Vandenberg Village and hold LUSD to the law:

  • July 2025: Filed an initial California Public Records Act (CPRA) request for project details, funding sources, and planning documents.
  • August 2025: Received LUSD’s response confirming the project is in the feasibility phase, owned by the District, funded via public–private partnerships, with a four-year anticipated timeline and only a “Conceptual Yield Study” — no real plans or studies.
  • November 2025: Submitted a full CEQA Comment and Issue List, a Fair Argument Demand letter, a Formal Notice of Objection, and a Formal Request for a Full EIR.
  • November 2025: Filed an updated CPRA request (CPRA-2-LUSD-2025) seeking all CEQA, traffic, emergency services, environmental, and developer records associated with the project.

These actions are designed to force LUSD to slow down, comply with CEQA, conduct a real Environmental Impact Report, and seriously evaluate keeping the Maple / La Mesa campus in educational use — including the option of reopening La Mesa Elementary.

You can review every one of these documents — exactly as submitted — in our public folder: CEQA & CPRA Documents – Maple / Jupiter Project .

What Can You Do Right Now?

Whether you prefer email, written letters, or both, contacting your representatives is easy. Below you’ll find every relevant LUSD, County, and State official, complete with email and mailing information. We’ve also created ready-to-use template letters and pre-formatted No. 10 envelopes so you can act quickly — just print, sign, and mail.

It’s critical that we tell our representatives that this project is unacceptable and that Vandenberg Village needs its schools and safe streets more than speculative housing. Every letter counts. When we act together, we are impossible to ignore.

Contact Officials About the Maple / La Mesa Project

Please be firm, factual, and respectful. Reference the proposed demolition of Maple High / former La Mesa Elementary at 4010 Jupiter Avenue, Vandenberg Village, and request that the site be preserved for public education and that reopening La Mesa Elementary be fully considered as an alternative. If you do not mind CC (Carbon Copy) office@leave93436.org.

Lompoc Unified School District – Board & District Leadership

Santa Barbara County – Board of Supervisors

Vandenberg Village is in the 3rd Supervisorial District.



California State Representatives

Lompoc / Vandenberg Village is currently in Assembly District 37 and Senate District 21.

When you write, please include your full name, street address in Vandenberg Village, and clearly state that you oppose demolition of Maple / La Mesa without a full CEQA Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and meaningful community alternatives analysis, including reopening La Mesa Elementary as a neighborhood school.

Join the Board & Help Save Vandenberg Village

We are now entering the most critical phase of this fight. To succeed, Leave93436.org needs additional board members and active community leaders from Vandenberg Village and the 93436 area.

We are looking for people who can help with:

  • Community outreach and neighborhood meetings
  • Legal and research support (CEQA, CPRA, land use)
  • Communications, signage, and social media
  • Fundraising for legal and outreach costs
  • Direct liaison with churches, schools, and local businesses

If you are willing to step up — as a potential board member, committee member, or on-the-ground organizer — please email:

office@leave93436.org

Together we can protect Vandenberg Village, keep our schools, and ensure that major decisions are made with — not against — the community.