Orange : Parents Await Decision on Closure of 4 Schools

Orange Unified School District parents are anxiously awaiting Thursday’s 7:30 p.m. Board of Education meeting in the Orange High School gym, when a decision is scheduled on closing four elementary schools.

Confronted with the unwelcome reality that their children may be forced to change schools, a group of parents recently formed a Professional Advisory Committee to look into alternatives to closing Panorama, Villa Park, Riverdale and Jordan elementary schools.

Faced with declining enrollments and an unexpectedly tight budget, the district has proposed closing schools as a logical way to make ends meet. It is estimated that closing the schools would save $500,000 per year.

Last week, however, at a meeting attended by more than 1,000 parents, the advisory committee presented the board with a report saying the district can save or raise millions of dollars without closing schools.

The committee says the plan to close schools deserves more study. Its report recognizes “a definite financial concern, but not a crisis” and lists ways $1.85 million in additional revenue can be found for the coming budget year.

Of the $1.85 million, $1 million is incorporated into a proposed budget that the board will consider next week, said H.C. Tanner, the district’s assistant superintendent for business. Other revenue raising measures suggested by the advisory committee for fiscal year 1985-86 apply only once and should not be considered for ongoing programs such as deferred maintenance, he said.