Lawsuit Threatened in Closing of Schools : Orange District Board Members Are Criticized by Parents

The Orange Unified School District Board was threatened Wednesday with legal action and a move to recall board members who favored closing four elementary schools by a group of parents opposed to the closings.

Last week, the board split 4 to 3 in deciding to close Panorama, Jordan, Riverdale and Villa Park elementary schools.

At a district budget study meeting Wednesday night, parent David Parker told the board that his group has hired an attorney and plans to file a lawsuit. Parker claimed the board decision to close the four schools would force the district “to enter into illegal activities.”

Parker said several violations of the state building, education and administrative code would occur if the schools are closed and students transferred. The district may have overlooked other procedural requirements in choosing the schools to be closed, Parker said.

Another parent, Bob Dowdell, told the board that the district holds one-half interest in a 526-acre parcel in Peters Canyon that has not been included in information released to the public. He also noted other surplus properties owned by the district in Anaheim Hills that he said were in prime development locations.

Supt. Kenneth Brummel, who came to the district last summer, said he was not aware of the Peters Canyon land before Wednesday. The property was purchased as an investment in 1980.

An unexpectedly tight budget was one of two reasons originally given for closing schools by district administrators. Shutting down the four elementary schools is expected to save about $500,000 annually, officials said.

Lance Hultgren, the father of three children, disagreed.

“There is no bleak economic picture out there,” he said. Hultgren, a leader of the recall movement, said recall would be an “uphill battle” and described it as “a process we would employ if we needed to, and it’s becoming very apparent that we need to.” The board members, he added, “aren’t bad people, they just show very bad judgment.”

To force a special election, parents would need to obtain 12,270 authenticated signatures on recall petitions. Hultgren said he has talked with leaders of other Orange County recall efforts, a committee is being formed and a strategy is being devised.