All County Districts OK Separate Section

All Orange County school districts are now in favor of forming a county athletic section, Dave Andrews, superintendent of the Tustin Unified School District, said Wednesday.

Speaking at a meeting of Southern Section officials and the Orange County Section steering committee, Andrews said superintendents from the Fullerton Union High School District and the Anaheim Union District have agreed to join the section. The other 13 districts already have agreed.

Cynthia Grennan, Anaheim superintendent, and Ken Jones, Fullerton superintendent, have said they would wait to make a decision until the State Strategic Planning committee finished its report. That report has not been completed.

Neither Grennan nor Jones could be reached for comment.

The Southern Section executive committee and the steering committee agreed on an information packet that will be sent to all Southern Section schools.

The packet contained a joint statement on the formation of an Orange County Section and its impact. Principals from Southern Section schools will vote on the formation of the new section at their council meeting on Oct. 20.

If approved, the final adoption would occur at the State Federated Council meeting Oct. 28, with a start-up date of July 1, 1995.

Questions still remain about the financial feasibility of a county section. Orange County officials said dues would be kept to the current section level of 23 cents per student.

The San Diego Section, similar in size to the proposed new section, charges 80 cents per student.

Andrews said the districts would cover any losses for the first year to keep the dues the same.

The new section would likely have 62 schools, not including the county’s 14 small private schools.

The Orange County Diocese will meet Friday with officials from Mater Dei, Santa Margarita and Servite to discuss the new section.