Board to Discuss School Switches

The Palos Verdes Peninsula School Board has postponed until Monday a meeting on its plan to consolidate district schools.

Originally scheduled for this last Monday, the meeting was delayed because transcripts of previous board hearings on the subject were not available for trustees to review, according to a district official.

The purpose of the meeting is to formally describe the reasons for its Dec. 4 vote in favor of the consolidation plan. Unless such findings are adopted, the district cannot implement the plan, which was drafted in response to low enrollment and budget shortages.

Under the consolidation plan, Miraleste and Palos Verdes high schools will be closed and their students reassigned to Rolling Hills High School. The two closed high schools, meanwhile, will be converted to intermediate schools. And the district’s two existing intermediate schools, which are smaller than the two high school campuses, will be shut.

A parents group that blocked a board attempt to close Miraleste high school three years ago held a public meeting Tuesday to discuss the possibility of challenging this consolidation, as well.

The group, East Peninsula Education Council, has not yet made a decision, said its president, Barry Hildebrand. He added that most of those who spoke at Tuesday’s meeting favored challenging the school district plan.

“We heard a lot of input, most of it saying, ‘Go ahead and preserve our rights,’ ” he said.