Schools’ racial makeup divides San Juan Capistrano

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Kinoshita and Del Obispo elementary schools are just an athletic field apart, but for many in San Juan Capistrano, the gap is a potent symbol of an issue that has roiled this south Orange County town in recent years: school segregation, writes the L.A. Times’ H.G. Reza.

The schools are on the edge of a middle-class, mostly white neighborhood. But while Del Obispo’s students are about 55% white, Kinoshita’s enrollment is about 95% Latino. It is a disparity that former district teacher Gia Lugo said highlights the wide gap in race relations in this historic community.

‘It’s a fact of life in this town,’ she said. ‘Even in school you spend the day around your own kind.’

The new school year begins today, with the ethnic makeup of the town’s other two primary schools similarly skewed. Harold Ambuehl, east of Interstate 5, is 67% white, and San Juan, which is across the street from Mission San Juan Capistrano, is 89% Latino.

Click here to read more about schools in San Juan Capistrano.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City