El Morro Elementary Annexation Talks Continue

LAGUNA BEACH, CA —During a week of wildfire, Laguna Beach city council continued to investigate whether to annex the elementary school at its northernmost border.

Questions have surrounded who is responsible for emergency calls made in the area of El Morro Elementary School.

In a recent incident, 911 calls after a collision on the El Morro property took hours to answerr. Calls were shuttled between Newport Beach Police, Orange County Sheriff's Department, and finally, the Laguna Beach Police Department's Student Resource Officer.

City Council also investigated costs on having a dedicated phone number to connect directly with the Laguna Beach Police Department from the schools, as well as a dedicated school resource officer for each campus.

The land currently is under the supervision of the unincorporated Orange County Sheriff's Department.

City manager John Pietig supports the annexation, provided doing so is necessary for the 911 call redirect back to the city of Laguna Beach emergency services, he said at the council meeting.

According to a report from the Daily Pilot, one student resource officer serves all of Laguna Beach Unified School District's schools. If annexed, an additional school resource officer may be needed.

Annexing the land could cost the town $100,000 and take up to two years, according to the most recent council meeting. Whether or not annexing the property would add revenue to the city of Laguna Beach remains to be seen, according to the Pilot.