MISSION VIEJO : School Boundary Lines Approved

After much debate, the Saddleback Valley Unified School District Board of Education last week approved attendance boundary lines for the coming school year for intermediate schools.

Controversy over the attendance lines mostly centered on a proposal to transfer 153 students from Serrano Intermediate School to Los Alisos Intermediate School, part of a plan to balance the use of the district’s three existing middle schools with the planned opening of a new one in Rancho Santa Margarita next year.

In a compromise with concerned parents, the board approved a plan allowing most of the students involved the choice of staying at Serrano Intermediate School.

In other action, the board approved a plan to transfer about 45 students from Los Alisos Intermediate School to La Paz Intermediate School.

With the new attendance lines for the three existing middle schools, the school district could save up to $45,000 by eliminating the need for nine portable rental classrooms, according to a district report.

During its Tuesday meeting, the board also approved boundary lines for the new intermediate school being built in Rancho Santa Margarita and a new elementary school that will serve the Robinson Ranch and Trabuco Highlands neighborhoods.

The new intermediate school is expected to open next year for about 875 students who live in such developments as Foothill Ranch, Portola Hills, Hidden Ridge, Rancho Trabuco, Robinson Ranch, Trabuco Highlands, Borcher’s Property, Brighton Homes and the sections of Rancho Santa Margarita and Dove Canyon within the district’s boundaries.

With the new intermediate school, the district estimates parents will save about $83,000 in busing fees.

In addition, all seventh-grade students affected by a boundary change will be given the choice of remaining at their current school for their eighth-grade year.

The elementary school is also expected to open during the 1993-94 school year for about 700 students, most of whom already attend Trabuco, Trabuco Mesa and Cielo Vista elementary schools.