County Education Board Rejects Proposal to Rename Placentia District

Rejecting the argument that changing the name of Placentia Unified School District would increase parent involvement among the district’s Yorba Linda residents, the Orange County Board of Education Thursday denied a proposal to rename the district Placentia-Linda.

After listening to a debate between the proposal’s opposing factions, county board President Elizabeth Parker said the request by Yorba Linda community leaders was “more than a name change but (an appeal for) more representation on the (Placentia school) board.”

Currently, the Placentia Unified district--serving students living in Placentia, most of Yorba Linda and parts of Anaheim, Brea and Fullerton--is governed by a five-member board of trustees elected at large. Four of the board’s trustees are Placentia residents and one is from Yorba Linda.

District residents favoring the proposal appealed to county trustees after the Placentia board rejected the name change by a 3-2 vote in February.

“This is not frivolous. This is not ho-hum let’s change a name,” said Peggy Bowen, a Yorba Linda resident and former trustee of the Placentia board. “This is, as we are all aware, a political issue.”

Janice Wagner, a Yorba Linda resident who has served on two Placentia Unified advisory committees, said voter turnout among residents in her city is lower for school district elections than for general elections because parents do not realize that their children attend Placentia Unified schools.

Most Yorba Linda residents assume that their city’s schools are part of the Yorba Linda Elementary School District, Wagner said, adding that a name like Placentia-Linda would give the Placentia district a regional title.

Officials of Placentia Unified have been trying to annex Yorba Linda Elementary territory through state legislation for two years. The merger, which is favored by the Yorba Linda district, has been opposed by administrators of the Fullerton Union High School District, whose secondary schools are assigned students out of the Yorba Linda system.

‘Augment Disunity’

Arguing against the name change, Placentia school board member Isabelle J. Hlavac said approving the proposal would “augment disunity and further segment” the district. “We have tried to keep education separate from politics. When politics comes into education, we think it corrupts it,” she said.

Hlavac also said students more closely identify with the name of their school than the title of the district, and that a name change would cost as much as $28,500 at a time when the district budget has a $500,000 deficit.

Wagner said after the meeting that no new efforts will be made by the Yorba Linda residents in the near future to change the district name. But she added that the issue may return if Placentia Unified and Yorba Linda Elementary school districts are successful in their efforts to merge.

“I think their (the county board members’) comments left open the very real possibility or probability that this issue will not go away,” Wagner said. “They did bring up the fact that Yorba Linda is growing rapidly and that there is the possibility of annexation.”

Public Education Campaign

Newly inducted county board member Sheila Meyers suggested that the Yorba Linda group could increase voter influence over the Placentia board with a public education campaign. “I don’t think people miraculously will know where their kids go to school with a name change,” she said.

Meyers, a six-year trustee before resigning a year ago to move to her native state of Washington, was sworn in again Thursday. She filled the board seat vacated by the Feb. 13 death of board member Frances Murphy.

Later in the day, a lawyer filed, then quickly withdrew, a lawsuit seeking to stop Meyers from taking office.

Attorney James J. Slaven, representing Catherine Murphy, daughter of the late board member, alleged that the board violated California’s open meetings law during a special meeting April 2, when trustees interviewed applicants for the empty post and extended the candidates’ filing date to April 9, when Meyers was appointed on a 3-1 vote.

Not a Resident

Slaven also contended that Meyers is not qualified to serve because she is not a resident of Orange County.

Meyers took voting residence in Huntington Beach, within the district that Frances Murphy represented, on April 6.

Under the open meetings law, Slaven must first demand that the board rescind its action before he can file a suit. Slaven said he plans to make such a demand and is considering filing another lawsuit seeking Meyers’ ouster.

“I definitely feel I am being harassed,” Meyers said, commenting on the suit. “I heard yesterday (Wednesday) there was going to be an attempt to get a restraining order to keep me from being sworn in.”

The decision to extend the filing period was done in strict compliance with the law, board attorney Ronald D. Wenkart said.

After a brief Superior Court hearing before Commissioner Julian Cimbaluk, Slaven said “the important point” is that the appointment assures Meyers’ listing as an incumbent on the ballot during the next board election in November, 1988. The incumbent designation could boost her chances of winning if she decides to run.

Petition Drive

Despite Meyers’ induction, Thomas Murphy, husband of Frances Murphy and one of five finalists for the job, has continued a petition drive that would force a special election for the post, said board member Francis Hoffman, who voted against Meyers’ appointment.

If petitioners gather the 3,150 signatures required, Hoffman said, Meyers would be required to step down from the board until an election is held.

“I think there’s a deliberate attempt being made to discredit me in the eyes of the public,” Meyers said. “I have no objection to the petitioning process against me, and if enough names are collected and there’s an election, I’ll stand as a candidate. But I don’t think this (lawsuit) is justified.”

Slaven said he did not know if Thomas Murphy intends to run in the next trustee election.

Times staff writer John Spano contributed to this story.