Yorba Linda : New Name for District? Two Schools of Thought

Should the school district that serves Yorba Linda and Placentia be named for both communities? Or should the district continue, as it has for decades, to be called “Placentia Unified School District”?

Whether to change the name to “Placentia-Linda Unified” will be the subject of a public hearing Tuesday at Bernardo Yorba Junior High School in Yorba Linda. The hearing, at 7:30 p.m. on the campus at 5350 Fairmont Blvd., will be part of the regular meeting of the Placentia Unified School Board.

Yorba Linda residents, including the City Council, have enthusiastically backed the proposed name change, but some Placentia residents are opposed. The Placentia City Council last year sent a letter to the Placentia Unified School Board urging it not to seek a change. The council said the current name is 110 years old and should be retained.

Yorba Linda residents, 78% of whom live in Placentia Unified, have noted that they provide about one-third of the 17,000 enrollment for the school district, and so their city’s name should be included in the school district’s title.

The Placentia Unified school board has said that it likely will vote on the proposed name change at a meeting Feb. 23. If the board votes for a change, the recommendation would be forwarded to the Orange County Board of Supervisors, which has final say in the matter.

Donna Bylund, administrative assistant for the school district, said Wednesday that the issue could go directly to the County Board of Supervisors, regardless of how the school board votes. State law requires the Board of Supervisors to act on a name-change petition for a school district whenever 15 or more registered voters in the district sign such a petition.