School Reconfiguration Plan to Be Focus of Public Hearing

Heeding calls from parents for community input on the possible reconfiguration of Arcadia schools, the Board of Education has scheduled a public hearing on the issue for Tuesday.

Supt. Terrence M. Towner said the Arcadia Unified School District is considering changing to a system of elementary schools for kindergarten to fifth grade, middle schools for sixth to eighth grades and high school for ninth through 12th grades.

Sixth-graders now attend elementary schools and ninth-graders attend junior high schools.

A report from a yearlong district committee in 1991 suggested the move to middle schools. Towner said the change is necessary because of overcrowding at the elementary level and the cost of junior high schools.

After a $27.4-million school bond measure failed by less than 1% on the Sept. 15 ballot, administrators of the 8,000-student district decided to consider implementing changes in 1993 to deal with the problems.

Towner said a school bond issue and the reconfiguration are part of the proposal for Arcadia schools, and another bond vote will be attempted in April.

Cathryn Warren said she and other Arcadia residents are concerned about having younger children undergo the proposed changes. She encouraged attendance at Tuesday’s hearing.

“Parents need to be involved and know about how this change affects the present generation and future generations,” said Warren, parent of an eighth-grader at First Avenue Junior High School.

“Many people moved to this city because of the school system, and now the district is considering changing it,” she said.

The district’s SAT scores are in the top 2%, and 93% of its high school seniors go to college.

The hearing will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium at Holly Avenue Elementary, 360 W. Duarte Road.