School saves classes, staff

The Huntington Beach Adult School will salvage most of its programs and employees, after a school board decision decreased planned cuts to the school’s budget.

“We were just delighted by what came out last night,” Principal Doris Longmead said Wednesday, referring to the school board’s Tuesday night decision.

All of the school’s well-known programs, like parent education and computer classes, will continue to operate, and there will be more opportunities for high school students to make up work. The district’s regular summer school program was cut, as anticipated, at Tuesday’s meeting.

“We were able to bring back all of our full-time people who were noticed, and we may also be able to keep many of our part-time people,” Longmead said. The school also will retain its counselor and senior account clerk.

The district plans to discontinue renting the Adult School’s leased campus, as it plans to build a new campus over the next several years. In the meantime, students will take courses at several campuses throughout the district. After the new building is completed, the students will again attend classes together on one campus.

The school will need to institute a fee system to keep some of its courses in place, but local residents had said they would be willing to pay to continue attending, Longmead said.

The diploma and GED programs will be housed at Marina High School. English as a Second Language and medical-office training will be moved to Westminster High School, and computer classes will take place at Ocean View High School.

Courses for high school students will be held at Valley Vista in the late afternoon, Longmead said. Senior classes at the Fountain Valley Senior Center will continue to be offered, but will be fee-based. Parent education classes will exist at their full level, at a yet-undetermined site.

The district is given funds each year that are specifically earmarked for the adult school, but this year’s budget crisis prompted the state to make the funds, among others, up for grabs to be used in the district’s general fund instead.

The Huntington Beach Union High School District originally planned to take the majority of the school’s annual budget to put into its own reserves, leaving the school with a $2.5-million operating budget, but opted to give the school $3.5 million at Tuesday night’s meeting.

Supt. Van Riley initially set a base amount of funding of $3 million in the board agenda, but the board opted to raise that amount to $3.5 million, Longmead said. The district will still have millions of dollars to put into its reserve.