Petitions Filed to Unify Manhattan Beach Schools

School unification in the South Bay’s beach cities took another step forward last week when an activists’ group filed petitions calling for combining Manhattan Beach schools into one district.

The Manhattan Beach Unification Steering Committee filed petitions containing 6,700 signatures with the Los Angeles County Office of Education on Friday. The citizens committee said it needed 5,524 signatures of registered voters, or 25% of the electorate, to start the process leading to a unification election.

Manhattan unification committee spokeswoman Sandy Wetmore said 200 volunteers collected the 6,700 signatures--1,176 more than needed--in a month. “The response has been amazing,” she said.

The county has 20 days to verify the signatures.

In neighboring Redondo Beach, a similar petition drive by S.U.N. (School Unification Now) for unification along city boundaries is expected to wind up at the end of September, said Supt. Beverly Rohrer. She said the district is aiming for a single November, 1992, ballot measure to unify the Manhattan and Redondo districts.

Both cities now have kindergarten through eighth grade school systems. High school students attend Mira Costa and Redondo Union high schools, which are in the South Bay Union High School District.

Unification proponents in both cities contend that the change will, among other things, increase local control and identity, reduce administrative overhead and improve education by giving students a planned curriculum through the 12th grade.

Despite calls to join in the unification process, the one-school Hermosa Beach elementary district has chosen to remain independent. It is considering contracting with the unified districts, if they are created, so that Hermosa high school students could continue to attend Redondo and Mira Costa.

Hermosa has resisted unification for fear of being overshadowed by its larger neighbors. “Even under the best circumstances, we would have a minority on the board,” said board President Susan Meyer.

The Manhattan Beach petition will go to the county Committee on School Organization in September if it is found to be valid, said county consultant Jim Marlatt. The committee has 60 days to schedule public hearings in Manhattan Beach and El Segundo, whose school district would lose an estimated seven students. The small El Porto area in the northwest corner of the city is part of the El Segundo Unified School District.

The committee will later make a recommendation on the unification plan to the state Board of Education, which may deny it or call for an election after holding a public hearing. November, 1992, is the earliest date that an election could be held.

This newest attempt at unification began three years ago. Previously, between 1965 and 1972, voters turned down three separate beach city school unification measures--all of them proposing that the four existing districts merge.