City Backs Residents on School Proposal

In response to a plea from some residents, the City Council is intervening in a proposed school-boundary change.

Council members Bob Bell and Patricia L. Bortle were appointed to meet with Orange Unified School District officials about proposed boundary changes for Villa Park Elementary School. The council said the elementary school’s attendance area should continue to be mainly within Villa Park.

“This certainly is an issue very close to the hearts of those who attend neighborhood schools,” Bell said.

Bortle said a boundary change could mean more Orange residents having to drive children into Villa Park.

“My concern is traffic,” she said. “More traffic in our city is not good. I don’t think we need to bring Orange’s problems into our town.”

School district Assistant Supt. Neil McKinnon said boundary changes are only being discussed and would not become effective until the 1998-99 school year. He said the suggested attendance area changes for Villa Park Elementary “would not affect most Villa Park residents.”

But Lynn A. La Rue, a Villa Park resident, wrote the council that the district’s proposal would be harmful to the city. “If this boundary change happens, Villa Park Elementary would become predominantly attended by children who are residents of the city of Orange,” she said in a letter. “This troubles me because Villa Park Elementary has been the primary school for the children of this city since 1883.”

Another resident, Andrew Salmond, spoke to the council and urged what he called a “show of support” to halt the boundary change: “A lot of us feel very strongly it’s a school for Villa Park.”