O.C. Schools a Study in Diversity, More or Less

Growing ethnic-minority populations in Orange County are bringing greater diversity to many county schools, according to figures released this week, but in a demographic twist, also are making a couple of them less diverse.

More than nine in 10 students in the Santa Ana public schools are Latino, for example, up by 10 percentage points from nine years ago. As a result, Santa Ana has replaced Laguna Beach as the most ethnically homogeneous school system in the county.

The Laguna schools remain lowest in the numbers of minority groups; 86% of Laguna students are white.

The figures released Monday by the Orange County Department of Education reveal that within one county are 28 school systems with varied and changing demographics:

* In Irvine, for example, more than one in four students are Asian or Asian-American. Many families of Chinese descent moved to the area in recent years, drawn to its highly ranked schools.

* A handful of school districts have undergone dramatic demographic change in less than a decade, such as Tustin, Magnolia and Anaheim City, with the Latino population growing by more than 20 percentage points. Altogether in Orange County, the most consistent demographic trend was an increase in Latino students.

* Westminster Elementary School District has become the county’s most evenly balanced ethnically, with nearly equal numbers of Latinos, whites and Asians.

* The black population at all school districts remained mostly the same, fluctuating by no more than one percentage point. Tustin Unified has the largest black population, at 4%.

* The Huntington Beach Union High School District has the only significant population of Native Americans--5%.

In Laguna Beach and Santa Ana, educators must struggle to teach students about ethnic diversity, since their schools have so little.

The schools rely heavily on literature and field trips and discussions. “An important part of our curriculum is to demonstrate diversity to our students,” said Antonio Espinosa, principal at Spurgeon Intermediate School.

The extraordinary difference between the two districts’ populations prompted the county Human Relations Commission this year and last to set up a cultural exchange program for them.

As part of the program, a group of 20 middle-school students from Laguna Beach visits a Santa Ana campus, and the Santa Ana school sends 20 students to Laguna Beach.

“It’s a real high priority with our school board that we do introduce the diversity aspect in education,” said Laguna Beach Assistant Supt. Wendy Doti. “We don’t have diversity.”

The two student groups photograph and write about their experiences and are in the midst of creating an exhibit about their observations.

The Laguna students, from Thurston Middle School, are scheduled to visit McFadden Middle School in Santa Ana on April 1. They also will tour downtown Santa Ana and visit the seat of county government at the Civic Center.

“In all honesty, a couple of students from Laguna were apprehensive about going to Santa Ana and some of the prejudices came out,” said Renee Rodriguez, one of the program’s coordinators. “On the other hand, some of the Santa Ana kids wrote they weren’t sure they were going to like the white kids.”

In Huntington Beach, school officials say they have responded to the needs of their Native American population for 20 years, offering tutoring, counseling and other services. The district has the fifth-largest Indian education program in the state.

“The objective was to maximize the academic potential of anyone with Indian background and it has really worked,” said Dorothy Crutcher, the director of guidance services for the district.

In Westminster, with its fairly even pie slices of three ethnic groups, school officials say they walk a line between celebrating the students’ different cultures and minimizing their differences.

A two-day-a-week after-school program at Westminster’s Finley Elementary School separates Asian and Latino students so that each group can learn about its native culture. But mainly, the school’s curriculum and philosophy encourage integration.

“We try to downplay any differences,” Finley Principal Hodge) Hill) said. “We mix the ethnicity in classrooms so they just see each other as people.”

The campus used to have daylong celebrations for Cinco de Mayo and Tet (Vietnamese new year), but they were scrapped for “All-Cultures Day.”

At Stacey Intermediate School in Westminster, Principal Carol Hansen is proud of the school’s “Patriotic Assembly,” where immigrants in the community, including some teachers, speak to students about their journey to America.

“We’re all here at Stacey together,” Hansen said.

* GROWING TOGETHER: Changes in racial demographics in local districts since 1989. A15

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Bucking the Trend

Orange County’s two most homogenous school districts are in Laguna Beach and Santa Ana:

Laguna Beach Unified

White: 86%

All others: 14%

Santa Ana Unified

Latino: 91%

All others: 9%

Countywide Change

1989

White: 55%

Latino: 29%

Asian*: 13%

Black: 2%

Other: 1%

****

1998

White: 43%

Latino: 40%

Asian*: 14%

Black: 2%

Other: 1%

* Includes Filipinos and Pacific Islanders

Note: “Other” includes American Indians and Alaska natives

Source: Orange County Department of Education

Changing Face of County Schools

Here’s how the ethnic balance has changed in Orange County’s school districts:

ELEMENTARY DISTRICTS

*--*

White Latino Asian* Black Other** Anaheim City 1989 34% 55% 8% 3% -- 1998 13 78 7 2 -- Buena Park 1989 46 36 13 5 -- 1998 28 51 14 7 -- Centralia 1989 55 22 19 4 -- 1998 41 34 20 5 -- Cypress 1989 67 16 14 3 -- 1998 54 18 22 4 2 Fountain Valley 1989 74 7 18 1 -- 1998 66 10 21 2 1 Fullerton 1990 52 30 16 2 -- 1998 39 40 18 2 1 Huntington Beach City 1989 82 9 8 1 -- 1998 80 11 8 1 -- La Habra City 1989 45 51 3 1 -- 1998 28 69 2 1 -- Magnolia 1989 50 34 12 4 -- 1998 24 57 13 5 1 Ocean View 1989 72 14 12 1 1 1998 59 26 13 1 1 Savanna 1989 58 25 13 3 1 1998 33 41 14 6 6 Westminster 1989 47 26 25 1 1 1998 29 35 33 2 1

*--*

HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICTS

*--*

White Latino Asian* Black Other** Anaheim 1989 52 30 14 3 1 1998 31 49 16 4 -- Fullerton 1989 49 36 13 2 -- 1998 35 44 18 3 -- Huntington Beach 1989 64% 10% 19% 1% 6% 1998 51 18 25 1 5

*--*

UNIFIED DISTRICTS

*--*

White Latino Asian* Black Other** Brea Olinda 1989 74 17 8 1 -- 1998 65 22 11 2 -- Capistrano 1989 83 11 5 1 -- 1998 74 17 6 2 1 Garden Grove 1989 39 32 27 2 -- 1998 22 46 31 1 -- Irvine 1989 74 5 18 3 -- 1998 59 7 28 4 2 Laguna Beach 1989 89 7 3 1 -- 1998 86 9 3 1 1 Los Alamitos 1989 80 8 9 3 -- 1998 73 12 11 3 1 Newport Mesa 1989 71 19 9 1 -- 1998 58 35 6 1 -- Orange 1989 63 23 12 2 -- 1998 48 38 12 2 -- Placentia *** 1989 69 20 9 2 -- 1998 63 26 9 2 -- Saddleback Valley 1989 81 8 9 2 -- 1998 72 15 11 2 -- Santa Ana 1989 8 81 9 2 -- 1998 3 91 5 1 -- Tustin 1989 62 20 13 5 -- 1998 42 42 11 4 1 County Programs 1989 44 43 7 6 -- 1998 42 47 7 3 1

*--*

* “Asian” includes Filipinos and Pacific Islanders

** “Other” includes American Indians and Alaska natives

*** Now called Placentia-Yorba Linda

Source: Orange County Department of Education