HUNTINGTON BEACH : Plan Would Close Crest View School

A plan to racially balance schools in the Ocean View School District would close Crest View School and open a language “newcomer center” at Oak View.

The plan was devised when the district identified those schools as racially isolated because both have heavy concentrations of Latino students.

During six neighborhood meetings and the first of three public hearings on the issue, only small numbers of parents opposed the plan. But district officials said they expect to hear from more parents in coming weeks.

Under the plan, Crest View would close at the end of this school year, and Oak View would be overhauled to accommodate all students in grades one through six who have limited-English proficiency. It would also require that all pre-kindergartners enrolled in the district attend Oak View.

Some parents have said they oppose what they say would create a districtwide “preppy-kindergarten” program at Oak View. They also have said they are concerned about transferring their 4- and 5-year-old children to an area that police in past years have identified as a high-crime neighborhood.

Parent Nancy Steuver, who serves on the district’s 40-member Integration Advisory Committee, said she was “personally disturbed at the resistance.” Steuver said she believes that some parents oppose the Oak View preschool program because of racial biases.

“I figured coming into this that one of the major obstacles we would have to overcome is the white Huntington Beach community. And I think that’s still an obstacle,” she said.

Nonetheless, Steuver, board members and district administrators said they believe that the integration planning process is proceeding on schedule.

The proposal still must be approved by the federal Office of Civil Rights. Supt. Monte McMurray said he expects to receive the office’s evaluation before the board’s next scheduled public hearing on the plan, on Feb. 19 at Westmont School. A final hearing on the proposal is scheduled for March 5 at Westmont, after which the board is expected to vote on the plan.