County Principals Reject Weighted Voting Plan

Orange County high school principals on Wednesday reacted strongly against the proposed governance of an Orange Section at a meeting to discuss the constitution of the section for Orange County schools.

The main concern was over weighted voting, with schools getting votes based on enrollment, and the presence of superintendents and a board of education official as voting members on the section’s executive committee.

In a straw vote, principals rejected the plan, which would give schools with more than 2,500 students four votes, schools with 2,000-2,499 students three votes, schools with 1,500-1,999 students two votes and schools with under 1,500 students one vote. They preferred the one-school, one-vote policy that is in the Southern Section constitution.

Superintendents representing Orange County high schools were dissatisfied with the one-school, one-vote policy, which was one reason they have pursued a break with the Southern Section.

The meeting was designed to inform principals of progress toward a new section and to gather input. More then 60 principals attended.

But it got bogged down on the issue of governance. The meeting’s agenda included five items that were to be discussed, but officials never got passed the first one, “Governance Structure.”

“If my school fields 20 sports and Esperanza fields 20 sports, why should they get more of a say than I do?” Woodbridge Principal Greg Cops said.

The voting structure was designed to give schools that pay more dues more votes, according to Peter Hartman, superintendent of the Saddleback Valley Unified School District. Schools are projected to pay 23 cents per student under the preliminary budget.

“I don’t support a few people who represent a few students,” Hartman said. “Every student in our district deserves fair representation. Every student in the county deserves fair representation.”

The plan to include superintendents and a board member on the committee drew sharp criticism from the principals, who argued that the presence of superiors would influence principals’ voting. The plan called for a committee of about 17 members, including one from each league. All but five would be principals.

Although principals opposed the proposed committee structure, Ed Seal, superintendent of the Brea-Olinda Unified School District, said some of the items proposed were “non-negotiable.”

At one point, Hartman addressed the meeting, saying, “The superintendents are not happy with how principals have run the CIF (Southern Section). We wanted more of a voice than we had in the Southern Section. We have worked out this (proposal) as a compromise.”

The executive committee’s structure was also a concern of private and parochial school representatives. Mater Dei Principal Lyle Porter said the proposal did not guarantee those schools a voice on the committee.

“I don’t think it was done with intent, but people don’t realize that some private schools don’t have a board of education or a superintendent,” Porter said. “With the exception of one league representative, there is no one who would represent the private schools.”

Members of the steering committee said revisions would be made to guarantee another spot on the executive committee for private and parochial schools.

Seal said all the paperwork would have to completed by October for the Orange Section to begin competition by the 1994-95 school year.

Times staff writer Barbie Ludovise also contributed to this story.