ELECTIONS / BALLOT MEASURES : Upcoming Vote May Reconfigure Area Schools : Proposition V calls for a split unification plan, while Proposition Z asks voters to consider secession.

South Bay voters in three beach cities and a community in Rancho Palos Verdes will cast ballots on two school-related measures next week, but votes on only one of the measures are likely to stand.

The measures, Proposition V and Proposition Z, ask voters to consider restructuring the way their schools are integrated with their communities.

Proposition V would dissolve the South Bay Union High School District and create separate unified school districts in Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach; Proposition Z asks voters in the Eastview community of Rancho Palos Verdes whether they want to secede from the Los Angeles Unified School District and transfer two schools in their neighborhood to the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District.

If voters approve Proposition V, students in Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach would begin attending classes in the newly reorganized school districts as early as next fall. The vote on Proposition Z, however, is likely to have no practical effect because a Superior Court judge has ruled the election results invalid.

Superior Court Judge Stephen E. O’Neil, who heard arguments in a dispute between Eastview residents and the Los Angeles Unified School District, concluded earlier this month that not enough people with a stake in the plan were allowed to vote in the referendum.

He issued an order preventing authorities from certifying the election results, a move that essentially turns the vote into little more than a straw poll.

Proponents of the measure have appealed O’Neil’s ruling, but the case has yet to be heard.

“We’re telling people even if (the election) doesn’t count, if we don’t get a massive turnout in favor of this, it’s a dead issue,” said Craig Kelford II, co-chairman of Residents for Unified Local Education, which is lobbying for secession. “But I think the chances of it being anything less than an overwhelming victory are zero.”

Kelford’s confidence is no understatement. Eastview parents have wanted to secede from the Los Angeles district since their community was annexed by Rancho Palos Verdes in 1983.

Many residents think that their property values will rise if their children attend the highly regarded Palos Verdes school district. Residents also argue that they cannot be “full-fledged citizens” of the peninsula community until their children are allowed to attend the peninsula’s schools.

The Los Angeles district, however, has argued that the loss of students from the largely white neighborhood would disrupt the district’s racial balance and educational programs.

Echoing supporters of the peninsula community’s secession effort, those in favor of dissolving the South Bay Union High School District say their children will benefit from the changes that Proposition V would bring.

If it passes, the two high schools now operated by the South Bay Union High School District--Mira Costa High in Manhattan Beach and Redondo Union High in Redondo Beach--would become part of the Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach school districts.

Those districts would become unified, K-12 districts. The Hermosa Beach City School District would remain a K-8 district, and parents would be able to send their high school-aged children to either high school.

Voters in Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach, but not Hermosa Beach, will also cast ballots for the school boards that would be created within their city boundaries.

Seven candidates are vying for seats on the proposed Manhattan Beach Unified school board, while 12 contenders are competing for seats on the proposed Redondo Beach Unified school board. The top five-vote getters in each race win.

Advocates of the so-called split unification plan--they include all the members of the Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach elementary district school boards as well as both local city councils--are enthusiastic about their chances for victory, even though previous referendums on similar measures have failed three times.

“The experts in education believe it’s a better way to educate children,” said Mary Rogers, a trustee for the Manhattan Beach City School District who is among those running for a seat on the Manhattan Beach Unified school board. “It would provide a true continuity for students’ education plan.”

Supporters also contend that the plan would guarantee the existence of Mira Costa and Redondo Union high schools because unified districts must maintain at least one high school. Many parents worry that either Mira Costa or Redondo Union high could be closed by the current school district because of budget woes.

Those who oppose split unification contend that supporters of the plan are raising the issue of school closures as a scare tactic.

“I call it ‘the Big Lie,’ ” said Joseph Mark, a high school district trustee who opposes the plan. “There are no facts to support the threat of school closure.”

He said the smaller size of the new school districts would give trustees less flexibility with teacher assignments and could mean fewer course offerings. Further, opponents argue that the plan would hurt parents and children in Hermosa Beach and North Redondo Beach. Residents of Hermosa Beach, they noted, would not be allowed to elect trustees for the school districts that operate the high schools their children will attend.

“Local control will be for Redondo Beach and Manhattan Beach only,” Mark said. “Hermosa will have no say in how their high schools are run (or how) the policies (are) set or how their education tax dollars are spent.”

And North Redondo Beach students, many of whom attend Mira Costa High, may be forced to enroll at Redondo Union High, even though it is farther away, Mark said.

The elementary school boards in Redondo Beach and Manhattan Beach have agreed to maintain open enrollment policies, but critics say there is no guarantee that future school boards will follow suit. Faced with tight school budgets, Redondo Beach trustees may be hard-pressed to allow hundreds of students to enroll in the Manhattan Beach district, taking with them thousands of dollars in state funds.

School Board Candidates MANHATTAN BEACH Candidates for the proposed Manhattan Beach Unified School District (5 vacancies):

Kathy Campbell, 50, graduate student and former teacher, trustee of the South Bay Union High School District and former trustee of the Manhattan Beach City School District.

Gary Collins, 54, business manager for a South Bay aerospace company, trustee of the Manhattan Beach City School District.

Barbara J. Dunsmoor, 48, graduate student and former teacher, trustee of the Manhattan Beach City School District.

Lyn Flory, 50, parent and past PTA president and TRW business manger, trustee of the South Bay Union High School District.

LeRoy E. Nelson, 44, self-employed management consultant.

Bernard (Bud) O’Connor, 53, attorney, trustee of the Manhattan Beach City School District.

Mary Rogers, 49, auto repair business manager, trustee of the Manhattan Beach City School District.

REDONDO BEACH Candidates for the proposed Redondo Beach Unified School District (5 vacancies):

L. Jeanette Boston, 46, secretary at Little Company of Mary Hospital in Torrance.

Valerie (Val) Dombrowski, 57, retired businesswoman, trustee of the Redondo Beach City School District.

Tom Downs, retired chiropractor and construction worker, trustee for the South Bay Union High School District.

Stan Groman, 50, business owner, industrial water treatment engineer.

Howard M. Huizing, 73, retired principal, trustee of the Redondo Beach City School District.

Joyce LaBree, 43, legal secretary, Redondo Beach youth commissioner.

Lillian M. Parker, president of her own marketing firm.

Rebecca (Becky) Sargent, 46, paralegal, trustee of the Redondo Beach Elementary School District.

Bart Swanson, 41, supervises Lawndale’s Community Safety Department, trustee of the Redondo Beach City School District.

Joseph Tigani, 43, tax attorney with Rockwell International in Seal Beach.

Ada Unruh, nonprofit corporation executive (Committee to Balance the Federal Budget with Fair Taxation).

William D. Wiener, 76, retired manufacturing project engineer.