Parents Angry Over Change in School Plan

Leaving their home in the Hollywood Hills in October, Diane and Trent Johnson could have moved just about anywhere they wished. What ultimately led them to choose the Northbridge Point development in Valencia, the Johnsons say, was the promise of excellent neighborhood schools that their young children could walk to.

But now the Johnsons say they were misled. Extreme overcrowding at their local school means that when their daughter begins kindergarten next year, it could be several miles from home.

Upset about what they say were false promises by developers, the Johnsons, along with dozens of their neighbors in this upscale development, have formed a group to lobby the local school district to find solutions that will keep their children close to home.

“We were all told that our children would go to Helmers, and for many of us that’s why we moved in,” said Diane Johnson, referring to Helmers Elementary School, which is only blocks from the family’s home.

“Now they’re telling us that because of all the new construction, our children may not be going there next year.”

The problem faced by the Johnsons and their neighbors is anything but unique in Santa Clarita, where the schools rank among the best in the state but where relentless development has been putting a squeeze on classroom space for years.

While acknowledging that crowded conditions at Helmers may require some neighborhood students to go elsewhere next year, Saugus Union School District officials say it is premature for the Johnsons and other families to panic. Hoping to quash widespread speculation about changing school boundaries, the school district insists that parents will be consulted before any decisions are made about how to relieve overcrowding at Helmers and other schools.

“There are a lot of rumors out there about what we are going to do. There are a lot of options, but so far they haven’t been discussed,” said district spokeswoman Ellen Morgan.

“Once we get some [enrollment] numbers to look at from this year, we will be involving the parents in the process of finding answers to these issues,” Morgan said. “We won’t make any arbitrary decisions.”

Although school board members will make the tough decisions on which schools children from Northbridge Point attend, Valencia developer Newhall Land & Farming Co. is the primary target of community anger. Newhall Land’s “master planned community,” parents say, has failed to provide adequate resources for students.

“What happened to this great planned community? Somebody needs to explain this to me,” said Marisa Madera, whose daughter entered the second grade at Helmers this week. “My daughter began there and she should be able to finish there. It’s one minute from our house.”

“They didn’t plan ahead. It doesn’t take a master’s degree to know that if you build all these houses, there are going to be a lot of kids,” said Northbridge Point parent Carolyne Workman.

Newhall Land spokeswoman Marlee Lauffer disagreed with the contention that her company made false promises. She said the company tells prospective buyers only what district their children will be a part of.

“I can’t speak to what the specific home builders told them,” Lauffer said. “As far as specific schools, those are decisions for the school district to make.”

Lauffer said Newhall Land has entered into signed agreements with all of the local school districts based on the districts’ projections of what resources they will need.

In Santa Clarita, as in much of California, new schools and campus improvements are generally paid for through a combination of state funds and developer fees.

With nearly 150,000 residents, the population of Santa Clarita has grown by more than 30% since the city was incorporated 11 years ago. Drawn by the promise of safe streets, open spaces and accessible government, young families have flocked to Santa Clarita as a refuge from big city turmoil.

But that growth has not come without a cost. Congested roads and crowded schools are among the factors that have begun to tarnish the luster of Santa Clarita for some residents. Now that the massive Newhall Ranch project--which calls for more than 20,000 new homes in an unincorporated area of the county west of Valencia--has been approved by the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors, many believe the problems will only get worse.

At Helmers, which opened in 1990, Principal Candace Clark said nearly 1,000 students now attend a campus that was designed for 660. Of the 45 classrooms at Helmers, 27 are portable units. Last year, 90 sixth-graders graduated from the school and 178 kindergartners enrolled.

“The overcrowding is obvious and we need to begin planning for the future,” said Clark, who pointed out that the problem has been exacerbated by the 20-to-1 student-teacher ratio now in place in kindergarten through third grade.

“It’s possible that some students will have to move [to other schools], but we have good schools throughout the system, and wherever they go, they will be given a good education,” said Clark, who pointed out that all but one of the elementary schools in the district have received the California Distinguished Schools designation.

That is small consolation for parents like Debra Torres, who said it has taken her daughter several years to get comfortable at Helmers. “If she has to move, she could fall behind again. It’s hard for kids to go from school to school,” Torres said.

Besides changing boundaries, school officials say they will also consider switching to a multitrack system to relieve overcrowding, or, less likely, abandoning the 20-1 classroom ratio.

Whatever they decide, growing enrollment dictates that solutions will need to be found before the 1999-2000 school year. Northbridge Point residents say they are eager to begin that process as soon as possible.

“Right now we really have nothing to complain about. Our kids are going to Helmers as promised,” said Lee Bayless, who credited the Saugus school board for its willingness to listen to input from parents.

“The problem is in the future. We want to start dealing with this diplomatically as a community so they won’t have to go somewhere else.”