COMMUNITY COMMENTARY

MICHAEL H. SIMONS

Our neighbors in the Fountain Valley School District are talking about

reorganizing into a kindergarten through 12th-grade unified district.

This is of vital concern to the families who live and work in the

Huntington Beach Union High School District because the process would

start by annexing two of our schools -- Fountain Valley and Valley Vista

high schools.

In order to move forward, Fountain Valley must meet nine rigorous

criteria that are set out in the education code. They must have the

support of their voting constituents within the boundaries of their

school district. The decision, in the end -- whichever way it goes --

will carry enormous, long-term, generational consequences for us all.

Huntington Beach Union High School District is a large district and

this “ownership” decision would affect all of our programs.

It would change our funding sources, and affect every one of our

14,350 students, 784 teachers, 58 administrators and 710 support

staffers.

To put this process into perspective, the board of trustees held a

public meeting last week at Fountain Valley High School. We wanted to

consider a preliminary report from our administrative staff and

educational consultants on the early and foreseeable effect of

unification. We also wanted to hear what the community has to say about

the possible loss of two campuses -- and possible displacement of

hundreds of students, faculty members and staff.

The district encompasses seven high schools in Huntington Beach,

Fountain Valley and Westminster. The Fountain Valley School District is

one of four elementary districts that feed into our high schools. That

district does not include the entire city of Fountain Valley and it also

has schools in Huntington Beach. The Ocean View School District is

located in Huntington Beach and a small portion of Fountain Valley. The

Westminster district also has schools in Huntington Beach.

If you look at our boundary map, you see a high school district

approaching its 100th anniversary. We are one of the most enduring

institutions in Orange County. For a century we have worked to provide

the best possible education for our high school students. We have taken a

leadership role in aligning the curriculum from our feeder districts to

provide a K-12 continuum in education. To accomplish this, we have

encouraged our high schools to develop their own identities and to work

closely with the elementary districts who send their students to them.

Over the years, specialized magnet programs have grown up in our

schools. Huntington Beach High School, for example, has the Academy for

the Performing Arts, Ocean View High School has the International

Baccalaureate program, Edison High School has the Center for

International Business and Commerce, Fountain Valley High School

emphasizes Advanced Placement programs and Valley Vista High School

houses our program for students who perform better in a nontraditional

setting.

One of our great strengths is the quality of our teachers; this has

set the standard for our educational programs. Each year our students

score higher on Scholastic Aptitude Tests for college entrance than their

brothers and sisters before them.

All of this is evidence that our educational system works. It’s clear

from our meeting the other night that the Fountain Valley School District

will have to address some very basic questions: Why should they unify?

What new benefits would unification bring to the community it now serves?

The most serious consequences we see for our high schools would come

in three areas: student programs, displacement of our senior teaching

staff and layoffs of tenured teachers with less seniority. All permanent

teachers and administrators at Fountain Valley High School and Valley

Vista High School would be forced to choose between staying with

Huntington Beach and moving into the new district. Their decisions would

determine what programs could still be offered if Fountain Valley should

unify.

Teachers’ and administrators’ decisions would depend on factors that

include seniority, pay level, time until retirement and confidence in a

new district that has no experience in leading and managing at the high

school level. A recent poll of a substantial number of teachers at

Fountain Valley High School showed that 78% oppose unification.

More than 57% of them said they would transfer to another Huntington

Beach high school, rather than move into a new unified district. Their

major concerns were the possible loss of pay and benefits, damage to

student programs and the inexperienced leadership of the new unified

district.

At this early, exploratory stage we are working to identify the

questions we need to ask but, in time, the answers will become evident.

We are now waiting for the elementary school district to take the next

step. They must decide whether their unification proposal would be the

best course for the families and students that we both serve.

* MICHAEL H. SIMONS is the president of the Huntington Beach Union

High School District.