GARDEN GROVE : District OKs School Boundary Changes

Over the objections of about 20 angry parents, the governing board of the Garden Grove Unified School District approved high school boundary changes for the 1994-95 school year.

At its regular meeting Tuesday, the Board of Education unanimously approved the changes, which are designed to balance the student populations at overcrowded campuses with those that have surplus classroom space.

The changes only affect about 290 students entering high school next year at the ninth-grade level and do not affect students currently attending high school.

A committee of parents, students, staff and teachers proposed the changes last year, district officials said.

Until May 1, parents whose children are affected by the changes, particularly those who have other children in high school, may request that their children stay together. Having children at two high schools would affect parents’ transportation scheduling and students’ after-school activities.

Those applications will receive priority over other transfer requests, although space limitations may require that a lottery be used to decide which requests are granted, said Andrew McTaggert, assistant superintendent for secondary education.

At the Tuesday meeting, several parents complained that the district excluded them from the decision-making process by failing to notify them of proposed changes. They also feared there would be insufficient space to accommodate all the siblings requesting transfers.

Although trustees acknowledged before the vote that the changes would be inconvenient for some, they said they were intended to benefit the greatest number of students.

“No matter what school your child goes to, (he or she will) still get a similar education,” Trustee Joyce T. Johnson told the crowd. “We’ll try to please everyone, but pleasing everyone is not the easiest thing to do.”

Some students living in the existing Rancho Alamitos High School attendance area will attend Pacifica High School next year. They include those who live in the area bounded by Orangewood Avenue to the north, Garden Grove Boulevard to the south, Beach Boulevard to the east and Western Avenue to the west.

To ease crowding at Santiago High School, some students now living in that attendance area will be shifted to two other campuses. Those living in the area bounded by Hazard Avenue to the north, 1st Street to the south, the Santa Ana River to the east and Harbor Boulevard to the west will attend Los Amigos High School.

Students residing in the area bounded by the Garden Grove Freeway to the north, Hazard Avenue to the south, Newhope Street to the east and Euclid Street to the west will go to Bolsa Grande High School.

Students living in the Garden Grove attendance area who will attend Rancho Alamitos include those who live within the area bounded by Katella Avenue to the north, Chapman Avenue to the south, Euclid Street to the east and Brookhurst Street to the west.

Those living in the Bolsa Grande attendance area who will now attend La Quinta include students residing in the area bounded by Hazard Avenue to the north, Bolsa Avenue to the south, Brookhurst Street to the east and Magnolia Street to the west.