Trustees OK Rural-Oriented Elective : Newport-Mesa School District Votes to Keep ‘Em Down on the Farm

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District Board of Trustees voted Tuesday to keep open a high school farm that gives students a taste of rural life.

The board voted unanimously to keep the 19-acre farm at Costa Mesa High School operating with the recommendation that staff monitor the program to see if student enrollment increases. They also encouraged parents to help maintain the farm, home to more than 200 sheep, pigs, steers and rabbits.

Board member Forrest Werner, who had met with parents and students before the vote and visited the farm last week, called the agricultural program “a jim-dandy operation.”

Werner said his decision was based in part on “a considerable amount of community support. I hope that the same people would stay behind it.”

Student Brent Noller, 14, whose leg was broken recently in a baseball game, said he was happy with the vote and walked up on crutches to thank board members for their decision. “They’re actually giving us a chance to prove what we can do,” he said after the meeting.

The decision went against a recommendation last month by Principal Frank J. Infusino to close the farm on grounds that a single instructor could not adequately maintain the farm, supervise students and ensure the safety of animals.

His concern revolved around instructor Roy Center being the only adult on the farm while students operated heavy equipment, including a tractor, Infusino said. District officials said low enrollment throughout the district prompted the school to lay off an aide last year who had helped Center maintain the farm.

Surrounded by a group of excited students after the meeting, Center said he was pleased with the trustees’ vote.

“I think it was supported by the increase in enrollment” for the next school year, he said.

The school district offers three agricultural courses for students interested in working on the farm--one is an elective for eighth-graders and two are electives for high schoolers.

Center said that 23 eighth-graders now enrolled in the farm course have signed up for the eighth-grade classes next year. There are also 23 high school students who have signed up for the advanced agricultural class, he added.

Last year, eighth-graders were permitted to enroll in a program that included a farm course along with home economics, wood shop and vocal music.

Board members had earlier considered reducing the farm program to one class that would be available to all students, or limiting its use to after-school and weekend clubs only.

The district spent $500,000 on concrete pens, fences and other improvements to the farm less than 10 years ago. By closing the farm, school officials had estimated that they would save about $35,000 a year.

Infusino could not be reached for comment after the board’s decision Tuesday.