COAST CITIES — It was supposed to be an information session to present a facilities action plan to families in the San Dieguito Union High School District. But a June 23 meeting turned into a question-and-answer forum with La Costa Valley homeowners seeking a commitment from district officials on plans for a 22-acre lot in that community originally slated for a middle school.

The 85-square-mile district, bordered by La Costa Avenue in the north and the split of interstates 5 and 805 in the south, serves more than 12,000 students in grades seven through 12. Fliers were mailed to the approximately 2,450 homeowners that pay into community facilities district 94-2, the Mello-Roos account that funds facilities in the north end of the district. Families in the southern section were invited to the meeting through e-mails sent via parent groups. But only about 45 people attended, and they were all from La Costa Valley.

Since its inception in 1936, the district always experienced steady, rapid growth, said Terry King, interim superintendent. In the early 1990s, with thousands of new homes planned — including more than 2,100 in La Costa Valley and La Costa Oaks — the district anticipated the need for a new middle school. So in 1999, it purchased the Calle Barcelona lot for $5.8 million.

“You really only get one chance to buy a school site,” said Benjamin Dolinka, president of The Dolinka Group, the consulting firm hired by the district to develop its facilities action plan.

Shortly after the purchase, King said enrollment in the north began to flatten. “That was really new to us,” King said. “We were used to growth.”

With enrollment currently declining it that area and increasing in the south, the district is paying The Dolinka Group $70,000 to evaluate all its facilities.

Steve Ma, district associate superintendent of business services, said the district currently has no plans to build a middle school, but it also has no plans to sell the lot. In fact, the fate of the site will likely remain unknown until the facilities action plan is completed in about six to nine months.

The action plan is a series of eight workshops to develop a funding strategy, evaluate options and determine the needs for all facilities districtwide. The first workshop was held March 20. The next one is scheduled for fall, after school resumes and the new superintendent, Ken Noah, has been onboard for a few months.

The process will involve a task force of 20 to 30 people including parents, teachers, administrators, parent foundation presidents, district officials and community members.

Not surprisingly, La Costa Valley residents wanted to know how to secure a seat on that task force.

“We’re nervous about our place in the process,” said Greg Brucia, a member of the La Costa Valley homeowners association board of directors and Friends of North County, a group of homeowners who have been researching the lot. As the taxpayers who paid into the fund used to purchase the lot, “we’re entitled to a special place at that table,” he said.

Ma said Noah will appoint members to the task force, which will include representation from throughout the district. They will discuss workshop topics such as enrollment versus capacity, funding sources and modernization needs. The fourth workshop is scheduled to address site evaluation, which includes determining if the La Costa Valley lot should be deemed surplus.

Dolinka said he has worked with districts that have sold land and regretted it years later when enrollment increased, resulting in a need for a new school but no land on which to build it.

“Land is an asset,” Dolinka said. “Before we dispose of a property, we analyze the data and work with the local community.”

In his experience, Dolinka said, when a site is deemed surplus, those who live in close proximity have a larger influence on the final recommendation. “When we do these action plans, we base it on community input,” he said. “For us to be successful, the stakeholders have to agree.”

If deemed surplus, an entirely new process begins that includes formation of another group called a 7/11 committee.

At times, residents tried to get Ma to respond to past allegations such as the possible misuse of funds and misrepresentation. One homeowner wanted to know why he should trust the district when it had lied in the past. But moderator Jim Esterbrooks, public information officer for the San Diego County Office of Education, maintained the focus of the meeting.

“Alleging deceit is not part of this process,” Esterbrooks said. “The game is not over tonight. The process is just starting.”