Westminster Proposal Calls for 2 Schools to Close, 1 to Reopen

About 900 students would attend new schools this fall under a proposed Westminster School District plan to reopen one newly renovated campus while closing two aging ones.

Neomia B. Willmore Elementary will reopen in September, and Supt. Gail Wickstrom recommended on Thursday that the district close Virginia K. Boos and James W. Franklin Elementary Schools for financial and student enrollment reasons.

“This is a very difficult decision to make. No one in the administration wants to close any school,” she said at the board’s regular meeting.

The plan would make the most efficient use of school space, she said, pointing out that ideally an elementary school should have between 500 and 650 students. Under the plan, most schools districtwide would maintain student populations within that range for several years, she said.

Board President Ron Morgan emphasized that the proposed plan is not necessarily the one the district will adopt and that residents are encouraged to offer comments and suggestions during upcoming meetings.

A public hearing on the proposal will be held on Feb. 17 at Stacey Intermediate School, 6311 Larchwood Dr, in Huntington Beach. The board is expected to make a decision on Mar. 3.

In her report to the board, Wickstrom said that in September Boos elementary will have too few students to justify keeping it open, especially since the aging school is costlier to maintain than other campuses.

Also, because many students would shift to Willmore, too few students will remain to justify keeping both Franklin and C. Fred Schroeder Elementary open. Wickstrom recommended that Franklin be closed, saying that the district should keep a campus south of Bolsa Avenue. Doing so would ensure that students who would otherwise have to cross Bolsa to get to school are not lost to other districts.

When Willmore reopens, its students will include many of those who now attend Schroeder, Boos, Franklin, L. P. Webber, and Ada E. Clegg Elementary Schools. Of the students now attending Boos, most would go to Frank N. Eastwood Elementary School. Students currently attending Franklin would attend Schroeder and Clegg, said spokeswoman Audrey Brown.