HUNTINGTON BEACH : Continuation School Move Is Opposed

About 100 angry parents and residents called on the Huntington Beach Union High School District board Tuesday night to block the proposed move of Wintersburg Continuation High School to the campus of Fountain Valley High School.

The school board is scheduled to make a final decision on Wintersburg at a Feb. 27 meeting.

Wintersburg, now on the campus of Ocean View High School in Huntington Beach, enrolls students with behavioral and academic problems. The protesters say the school will bring crime, violence and drugs into the area.

“I am not really opposed to the school coming into Fountain Valley,” Cathy Rocha said before the meeting. “I just don’t think it should be on the campus of another high school.”

The proposed lease of Wintersburg is part of the school district’s effort to raise revenues. With the leasing of the school and the 15 acres surrounding it, the district stands to gain more than $1 million a year for the next 60 years, according to district officials.

Despite the opposition group’s claims, Huntington Beach police and neighbors in the surrounding area where Wintersburg is now located say they have had no trouble with 177 students who receive an alternative education at the school.

“I’ve lived here for about 15 years, and I can’t say that I’ve had any problems,” said Jerry Gilford, who lives in the community across the street from the school. “I never even really notice that it’s different from any other high school.”

Huntington Beach Union High School Board President Linda Patterson said in a recent interview that the negative labeling of Wintersburg students by the Fountain Valley community is unfair.

“They are just students interested in receiving an education,” said Patterson. “They attend the school for various reasons and are able to get the attention they need there. They pose a threat to no one.”

But Stacy Seinaur, a 15-year-old sophomore at Fountain Valley High School, said she is worried her school won’t be the same if Wintersburg is allowed on the campus.

“Right now, I feel Fountain Valley is a pretty good high school,” said Seinaur. “But if kids that have behavioral problems are brought here--I just don’t think that can continue to be the case.”