Brothers Say Tracy School District Balked On Land Deal When They Learned Of Other District
TRACY (CBS13) — It's been six years since the Delta Island Elementary School closed. Brothers Sid and Carl Yamada said the abandoned property was originally their family's land and they want it back.
In 1946, six Yamada brothers were released from a Japanese internment camp and relocated to Tracy. After leasing farm land for several years, the brothers bought acres off Howard Road in 1965. Their attorney Todd Fujinaga said in 1971 the Delta Island School District approached the brothers and asked them to donate eight acres to build an elementary school or risk a lawsuit.
"This was very intimidating to the family," said Fujinaga. "They did not really understand what that meant. I believe what the district intended was to take the property by eminent domain."
The six Yamada brothers paid off the property loan and donated the land. The Delta Island Elementary School was built, but Sid Yamada added a clause to the gift deed: if the district stops using the land for school purposes, his family gets their land returned.
In 1999, the Tracy Unified School District merged with the Delta Island School District. The elementary school was closed in 2009. The surviving brothers, Sid and Carl Yamada, said they began talks with Tracy Unified School District to get their land back. At first the brothers had interest in the property from Headstart and the Farm Bureau, but decided to pursue leasing the land to the New Jerusalem School District.
"When we read Delta Island had closed, we were very disappointed, because schools are important in small communities," said New Jerusalem superintendent David Thoming.
"We reached out to the family when we heard the land would be returned to them. We want to put a K8 charter school there."
The Yamadas said when New Jerusalem School District showed an interest, that's when Tracy Unified balked on returning the land.
"When they found out we were interested in putting a charter school out there, it appears that everything stalled," said Thoming.
Since state funding follows the child, a charter school, which is a less regulated public school, could take students and potentially millions of dollars away from Tracy Unified School District.
The Yamada brothers filed a claim against the Tracy Unified School District for the land and lost revenue. The district said it could not comment on pending litigation.
"This was property that was promised to be delivered back to them and a promise was broken," said Fujinaga.