SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : School District OKs $135-Million Budget

A $135-million budget for the 1994-95 school year was unanimously approved this week by Capistrano Unified School District trustees.

The budget for the 32,000-student district includes the opening of five new elementary schools in September and the expansion of Aliso Niguel High School to include seniors for the first time.

“This will greatly relieve the student population at many of our existing elementary schools,” district spokeswoman Jacqueline Price said. “A school like Crown Valley Elementary, for instance, which has always been our biggest school, will see its enrollment drop from 1,259 students to a little more than 600.”

Two of the new schools will open in Laguna Niguel, and one each in Mission Viejo, San Clemente and Aliso Viejo.

In September, for the first time, the Capistrano district will allow parents to send their children to the school of their choice.

As a result, two schools--the new Malcom Elementary School in the Beacon Hill area of Laguna Niguel and Aliso Niguel High School--have waiting lists and students will have to attend the school of their second choice, Price said.

The final school budget is contingent on the future state budget, however, which has not been passed by the Legislature, Price said.

“By state law we have to adopt our budget by June 30, but the funding is still uncertain,” Price said. “That makes it difficult for us to plan. We’ll have to go back in the fall and make some adjustments.”

The district receives about $120 million of its funding from the state so “you can see we rely on the state for the vast majority of our money,” Price said.