SANTA ANA / ORANGE : Legal Fight Continues Over Adult Classes

Rancho Santiago Community College District officials, rejecting criticism that the school’s adult education programs fail to adequately serve Orange residents, said this week they will refuse to cede control of the classes to Orange Unified School District.

Orange Unified had sued Rancho Santiago in an effort to wrest control of the 21 adult education classes that have been offered in Orange, Villa Park and the Anaheim Hills area for more than two decades. After the suit was rejected earlier this year, Orange Unified filed an appeal.

Orange Unified recently sent a letter to its administrators and “concerned staff,” saying Rancho Santiago’s adult education program does not meet the needs of its community. It said, among other things, that parents cannot attend classes near the schools closest to their residences and that course offerings in Orange have decreased over the years while classes have increased in the Santa Ana area.

Rancho officials this week responded to the letter, saying that courses are offered in most of Orange Unified’s schools and “the Orange community is receiving more than its proportional share of classes.”

College Chancellor Vivian Blevins said her district has repeatedly offered to negotiate with the Orange school district to administer the program jointly but talks have never been fruitful.

She criticized Orange for suing her district, forcing it to spend nearly $200,000 on legal fees.

“At no time will we willingly go to court,” Rancho Santiago Board President Charles W. (Pete) Maddox said. “We call on [Orange Unified] to work with us without further expenditure of funds better spent in the classroom.”

Tom Schrodi, director of instructional services for Orange Unified, said his district transferred the adult continuing education program to Rancho Santiago in 1972. But the district wants the program back along with funds provided by the state to operate it.