Hearings Begin on Peninsula District School Closures

Three years after a bitter battle erupted over the decision to close Miraleste High School because of declining enrollment, the Palos Verdes Peninsula school district last week began a series of public meetings to discuss campus closures districtwide.

Embattled school board members forsook their board room Tuesday night for the larger Rolling Hills High School gymnasium to kick off the meetings. More than 200 people sat in bleachers or folding metal chairs as parents and teachers took five-minute turns addressing trustees, who withheld comment.

Although the speakers’ remarks made it clear that the divisiveness that has engulfed the community over the board’s unsuccessful move to close Miraleste is still strong, they also made it clear that many simply want the board to act swiftly and end the controversy.

“The staff is angry and frustrated,” said Perry Lynn, head of the district’s faculty association. “We have watched the community’s civil war jeopardize our careers. . . . A decision must be made as soon as possible.”

Last week’s meeting was the first of four that have been scheduled to receive public comment on a recently completed environmental impact report on school closures throughout the district.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge ordered the district to prepare the report after the East Peninsula Education Council, an east-side parents’ group, mounted a legal challenge to the board’s decision to close Miraleste. Of the district’s three high schools, Miraleste is the only one on the east side.

But board members have stressed that comments made during the meetings will be used to help them do more than decide the fate of Miraleste.

Several board members have suggested that at the fourth and final meeting, Nov. 26, they could vote to close two of the district’s three high schools, as well as other schools. The trustees say that consolidating campuses is the only way the district can become fiscally sound and keep educational programs intact.

“We are trying to get the word out to the community what a serious situation this is,” board member Jeffrey Younggren said in an interview. “We are talking about a major reorganization of the school district.”

The district has closed seven schools in recent years as enrollment has declined to 9,000 pupils, about half the number of 17 years ago. This year, it has cut custodial and administrative ranks and has considered doing away with spring sports at the high schools.

At Tuesday night’s meeting, Supt. Michael Caston told the crowd that the district could face a $2.6-million deficit next year. “This is a figure that is almost overwhelming for us,” he said.

Representatives from several parent-teacher groups and a handful of parents on Tuesday urged the board to move ahead and consolidate campuses. One parent, Peggy Costello, who also teaches at the district’s continuation high school, questioned why an environmental report needed to be done.

“I frankly see this as a bogus issue,” Costello said. “. . . Our community places a value on buildings and not on education.”

Some speakers were critical of the report, which concludes that closing Miraleste will not create any significant environmental impacts. Jacki McGuire, a district teacher and a Rolling Hills Estates councilwoman, argued that the report failed to properly analyze how the district would alleviate the traffic congestion on the peninsula’s narrow roads if the school is closed or how more student parking would be provided at other high school campuses.

East Peninsula Education Council spokeswoman Marianne Kipper contended that the report was factually incomplete and contradictory in places. For example, the document fails to address how childrens’ safety would be affected if Miraleste is closed and students face longer commutes.

“We’re right back where we started,” Kipper told board members. “Let’s not make a bad decision based on a bad document. Palos Verdes deserves better.”

EPEC President Barry Hildebrand said in an interview that the parents’ group will continue its legal battle to keep a high school on the east side, even if board members ultimately decide to close two high schools. Even if a judge approves the environmental document, the group can appeal the ruling.

“We are not just going to roll over now,” he said.