Orange County Principals Approve League Realignment Plan : High schools: If proposal is OKd by Southern Section, Mater Dei would join Esperanza in Empire League.

Principals from Orange County high schools voted 32-27 Monday to approve a league realignment proposal.

The 10 leagues, which would take effect in the 1994-95 school year, were submitted to the Southern Section office after the meeting at Western High School.

It is the second time in two months that principals have submitted a realignment plan to the section. An earlier proposal was rejected after Commissioner Stan Thomas said he was concerned about the process in which the final decision was reached and ordered the principals to begin again.

The principals came up with a set of conditions to follow--geography, competitive equity and enrollment--in realigning the leagues.

The final proposal, one of 34 submitted in the last three weeks, didn’t follow all the criteria in some cases.

The most significant, and possibly controversial, change was with the Empire League. Esperanza and El Dorado would remain in the league, with Brea-Olinda, El Modena, Mater Dei and Santa Ana entering it.

The plan places two of the county’s strongest football programs, Esperanza and Mater Dei, in the same league.

“Most of the discussion concerned that league,” Newport Harbor Principal Steve Pavich said. “People were concerned about being in the same league with Mater Dei and Esperanza. But they have to be somewhere.”

Esperanza, Mater Dei and Santa Ana have enrollments of more than 2,000, according to the Southern Section Blue Book. Brea-Olinda, El Dorado and El Modena have about 1,500 students each.

“I think this was a compromise,” Mater Dei Principal Lyle Porter said. “If the numbers are right, then there are two or three schools in the league that are in the same category as Esperanza and ourselves.”

The section’s executive committee will hear appeals June 2. The section expects to approve all league realignments on Oct. 21.

The league alignments:

Century--Canyon, Katella, Loara, Magnolia, Orange and Villa Park.

Empire--Brea-Olinda, El Dorado, El Modena, Esperanza, Mater Dei, Santa Ana.

Freeway--Buena Park, Fullerton, La Habra, Sonora, Sunny Hills and Troy.

Garden Grove--Bolsa Grande, Garden Grove, La Quinta, Los Amigos, Pacifica, Rancho Alamitos and Santiago.

Orange--Anaheim, Cypress, Kennedy, Savanna, Valencia and Western.

Pacific Coast--Aliso Niguel, Costa Mesa, Estancia, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, University.

Sea View--Corona del Mar, Irvine, Newport Harbor, Saddleback, Santa Margarita and Woodbridge.

South Coast--Capistrano Valley, Dana Hills, El Toro, Mission Viejo, San Clemente and Trabuco Hills.

Sunset--Edison, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Los Alamitos, Marina and Servite/Rosary.

New league--Century, Foothill, Ocean View, Santa Ana Valley, Tustin and Westminster.