COSTA MESA : Victoria School Reopening OKd

Dozens of residents who live near closed Victoria Elementary School gave a standing ovation to the Newport-Mesa Unified School District trustees last week after the board agreed to reopen the school in the fall of 1993.

Budget woes this year threatened to postpone the already delayed opening of the school indefinitely, and worried parents have been lobbying the board for months to ensure that their children will have a neighborhood school to attend in 1993, as had been promised.

In a rare split, the board voted 4 to 3 in favor of reopening Victoria, with members Roderick MacMillian and Sherry Loofbourrow and President Forrest K. Werner opposed.

“Many of you have talked to me on the phone, and obviously hundreds of you have sent me letters, but my position was I could not (agree to this) and be fiscally responsible,” Werner said. “But I want to give you every assurance that the three board members (who cast opposing votes) and the district staff . . . will give you the best-quality school and best-quality programs we can deliver to your community.”

The promise to reopen the school--closed for more than a decade because of low enrollment--has been precarious recently, with the district facing increasingly tough fiscal times.

Funding for the new school comes mostly through money from a plan to build a reservoir under the school site. Under the funding plan, the district will earn about $4.5 million, of which about $3.5 million will go toward renovating and readying the school.

Officials hoped some of that money could go temporarily to the district’s dwindling reserves and were also worried that the cash-strapped district would be unable to afford annual operating costs of about $500,000 to run the school.

Last month, MacMillian made a surprise proposal to indefinitely postpone the reopening, a move that brought the issue to the forefront of board discussions.