HUNTINGTON BEACH : Reconfiguration for Schools Is Upheld

Ocean View School District trustees this week rejected requests that they reconsider a grade-level reorganization plan.

Several parents who have long opposed the broad reconfiguration asked the board to scale back the plan, which is due to go into effect next fall.

Some of the opponents said they would support a budding recall effort against trustees if the reorganization plan is not repealed or modified.

The $2.5-million plan will close two schools, convert four others to middle schools and revamp attendance boundaries. District-wide busing is expected to increase five-fold.

Supporters--including district staff members and all five trustees--say the plan will improve and expand educational programs by concentrating more students from each grade in fewer schools.

Opponents, who rallied against the plan before trustees approved it last June, assert that it’s too expensive, dismantles strong, popular programs at some schools and divides neighborhoods.

Sandra Poole, a parent, told trustees: “We don’t want the financial burden and the negative impact on our community. We want a plan that is more responsible and less costly.”

Poole said that she does not now support the proposed recall against all five trustees. That recall drive was touched off by the board’s approval of a property fee to raise money for schools, although that fee was later repealed.

Poole added, however, that “if reconfiguration is not reconsidered, I think we should pursue a recall. That should become the new three Rs of the district.”

Jim Ball, another parent critical of the plan, said a recall battle may amount to a referendum on reorganization.

Supt. Monte McMurray said that district staff has no new information regarding the plan, and that preparations for implementing it next year are going smoothly.

“There is nothing left for us to discuss,” board President Lottie Hobbs said after the meeting. “We have the same support we had before, and the same people remain opposed. I wish there were a way to make them feel more comfortable about it.”