SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Boundaries for New Schools Weighed

Capistrano Unified School District officials are seeking input from parents and students as they begin the complicated task of establishing long-range attendance boundaries for three new schools under construction in Aliso Viejo and Laguna Niguel.

Officials hope to make recommendations to the Board of Trustees in February about attendance boundaries for the three new schools: Aliso Niguel High School and Aliso Viejo Middle School in Aliso Viejo and John Malcom Elementary School in Laguna Niguel.

To complete the task, officials will probably have to realign high school and middle school boundaries throughout the district. Up to 1,300 students will be attending the new high school alone when it opens.

Committees made up of school administrators and community representatives are already studying school attendance boundaries in the district, reviewing such things as enrollment projections, school capacities and options for housing students in the future.

“Many parents and students are quite anxious to learn what the recommended attendance boundary will be for Aliso Niguel High School,” said Tom Anthony, director of secondary schools. “We hope to take the boundary committee’s recommendation to the board on Feb. 1 so that the community has ample opportunity for input as well as time to make necessary plans for the next school year.”

Anyone interested in speaking to the boundary committees can call Anthony at (714) 489-7224 regarding secondary schools and Richard Thome at (714) 489-7230 about elementary schools.