Countdown to 2000: Schools

Danette Goulet

During the 1960s, the local school system underwent its most dramatic

changes. In 1966, three school districts became one, creating the

Newport-Mesa Unified School District that exists today.

It was a highly controversial topic that spanned many years.

Back in 1956, the Costa Mesa Union School District Board of Education

passed a resolution calling for unification. This first attempt met with

no results.

Then, on Aug. 5, 1964, Costa Mesa Supt. Carl Boswell tried again, sending

a letter to Orange County asking that a unification proposal be

considered, saying it would be of the utmost benefit to all concerned.

In March 1965, the state Board of Education approved the merger. Later

that spring, it went to the voters of all three school districts -- Costa

Mesa Union, Newport Beach City School District and Newport Harbor Union.

After the unification passed, 17 candidates began campaigns for the seven

school board seats. Of those 17, 12 were members of existing boards. None

campaigned as hard as those in Newport Beach.

On Oct. 5, 1965, a unified board was elected. Newport Beach members won

four of the seven seats, with the Mariners area showing the highest voter

turnout.

The original board members were James W. Peyton, Elizabeth M. Lilly,

Marian Bergeson, Donald B. Duncan, Donald A. Strauss, Earl G. Peterson

and Roderick H. MacMillian.

On July 1, 1966, it became official -- Newport-Mesa Unified School

District was opened. It was one of 37 new districts across the state that

opened that day, eliminating 163 smaller districts.

Controversy over the merger continued as the new district was faced with

the same old money troubles.

In an attempt to calm frayed nerves, the new schools chief, Leland

Newcomer, announced that it would not be a year of sweeping changes, but

one of evaluation.

“I plan to be the No. 1 critic of this school district,” he told the

Daily Pilot. “And I’m going to be asked a lot of hard questions.”

The first issue the new district dealt with was an attempt to pass an

$11.8-million bond measure.

Newcomer announced that the district would be short of cash for a while,

saying “... necessity is the mother of invention.”

Sources: The Newport-Mesa Unified School District; The Daily Pilot;

“Newport Beach: The First Century 1888-1988,” James P. Felton, 1981.