PLACENTIA : School District’s Name Change Kept

Just over a week after the local school board’s name officially changed to the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District, trustees rejected an effort to change the name back to the Placentia Unified School District.

Trustees voted 3 to 1 this week to keep the new name, approved last month to heal a rift between Placentia and Yorba Linda schools. A group of parents petitioned the school board to change the name back, arguing that the switch was a waste of money in a tight budget year. So far, nine of 69 school buses have been repainted with the new name.

Placentia and Yorba Linda had had separate school districts until their merger in 1989. But the name remained Placentia Unified School District until July, when Yorba Linda was added to it.

Trustee Barbara Williams, who opposed the name change, abstained because of the money that has already been spent--about $500 to repaint buses. When work is completed by the end of the summer, the repainting is expected to cost just over $5,000.

But Trustee Connie Underhill argued that it was not too late to reconsider the new name. She voted for keeping it Placentia Unified School District.