COSTA MESA

Crowded conditions at some Newport-Mesa elementary schools may be even worse next year, especially on the West Side. Nine elementary schools--six in Costa Mesa--are expected to be short at least one classroom, Assistant Supt. for Business Services Mike Fine told school board members last week. Another nine elementary schools are expected to have a total of 17 extra classrooms.

To address this and other problems, committees of parents throughout the district are trying to decide how to reconfigure schools and improve education. Reconfiguration is meant to make better use of scarce resources, achieve a 20-to-1 ratio of students to teachers in kindergarten if parents want it, and reduce the district’s complex system of grade configurations. Portable classrooms and redrawing boundaries are two solutions parents have considered. Some also have proposed opening new schools or opting not to reduce the sizes of kindergarten classes. But the process isn’t quick and may not be completed by the time school starts in the fall.

Board members voted to accept Fine’s report but took no other action. They did not say what they would do if the committees do not come to decisions about reconfiguration by the start of the school year, but many board members stressed that they were happy with the process.