The seemingly empty, aging school building on Mission Boulevard and Santa Barbara Place houses administrative offices. Even with a well-kept lawn and flowering landscape, it seems like a far cry from its former use as the Mission Beach Elementary School that closed approximately 13 years ago. Elementary teacher hopefuls visit several times a week for internship and teacher training. And behind the quiet doors of the southside building, the Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) department stakes its headquarters, even as administrators contemplate the future of the program. The quiet, shuttered elementary school serves as an example of what could happen to a small school once it is closed. The school closed its doors to students in 1996 because of declining enrollment, according to San Diego Unified School District officials. The city’s elementary schools have historically suffered from declining enrollment with slight increases at some schools in years past. Though now used for administrative offices, the 3.25-acre site could be worth an estimated $10 million to $15 million, according to local real estate professionals. The district has discussed selling the property in the past but there are no current plans to sell the old elementary school, according to SDUSD Trustee John de Beck. While the discussion has surfaced in the past, the school district must follow a protocol to sell the property that must first be considered for government uses, such as low-income housing or park and recreation use, according to California Education Code section 17459. Any revenue from surplus property must go toward capital investments such as improving school buildings or other infrastructure, de Beck said. “We could buy computers maybe, but no operating expenses could be covered by it,” de Beck added. The campus sits enveloped by single-family and multi-family homes. If the property ever became available for redevelopment, the surrounding community would probably prefer single-family homes rather than large apartments, said Richard Miller, chair of the Mission Beach Precise Planning Committee. And they wouldn’t appreciate an extra 48 cars adding to the congestion, he said. Neighbors don’t seem to mind the relative calm that’s resulted from the site’s administrative uses, he said, adding that the site doesn’t seem to be a target for gangs. “I like it as a utility building for the school because it feels like open space,” Miller said. “It’s the functional equivalent of green space.” And as the school district battles to close the budget gap, the fate of elementary schools with dwindling student populations seems to suggest that the property is worth more without students unless the local elementary student population replenishes. “Admittedly, it’s worth more as a capital investment, and we’ll probably never use it as a school [again],” de Beck said. VAPA holds on Though safe for now, VAPA nearly faced elimination next year because of a school budget shortfall estimated at more than $100 million. The program sits on a list of Plan B budget cuts but trustees have thus far chosen Plan A. In that plan, trustees voted to eliminate busing to magnet schools, share principals between small elementary schools, increase class size at the elementary level and raise the cost of health benefits for employees. The school board adopts the final budget in June. VAPA Director Karen Childress-Evans said she is still fighting to save the program. “[VAPA] is like a tree, something growing for students,” Childress-Evans said. “If they remove VAPA, they’ll pull it out by the roots.” VAPA has a $3.1 million budget, which mostly pays for staff, Childress-Evans said. She said her department could pare down expenses, but that means potential staff cuts. The program sends music teachers to approximately 123 elementary schools throughout the district, including the Suzuki violin magnet program at Crown Point Elementary on Ingraham Street. Crown Point Elementary also showed up on a list of small schools considered for closure or reconfiguration to save money earlier in the year. Small schools like Crown Point are more expensive to run, according to school officials. The school board is considering closing 12 small schools throughout the district as part of “Plan B: back-up reductions,” among other cuts that may be needed to save another $34 million, according to SDUSD documents.