Yorba Linda is the lead agency on the project because the city has 23 of the 47 traffic signals on the 12-mile stretch of the thoroughfare that runs from State College Boulevard in Fullerton to Oak Canyon Drive in Anaheim.

Councilmembers in Yorba Linda recently approved a nearly $2.4 million contract for the work scheduled to begin this month, with completion anticipated in February. A 15% contingency of $357,119 can be added to the bid for “potential additional services and unforeseen work that may arise during construction,” stated a council report.

Project funding comes from a Comprehensive Transportation Funding Program grant that’s administered by the Orange County Transportation Agency. A 20% local match is required that’s expected to total $461,257. Winning bidder was Irwindale-based Crosstown Electrical & Data, Inc.

Traffic impacts during construction will be minimal and limited to temporary lane closures during approved working hours. Lane closures are typically between 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. daily, reported Tony Wang, city traffic engineering manager.

The project “will implement optimized traffic signal timing and synchronization along the corridor. Work will consist of performing traffic counts at key intersections, updating field equipment, performing signal timing analysis and installing/updating timing plans,” noted Wang in a report to county officials.

Yorba Linda’s portion of the project runs from Van Buren Street to New River Road. Existing closed-circuit television cameras are located at the Yorba Linda Boulevard intersections with Imperial Highway and Lakeview Avenue.

Nine cameras are proposed to be added at the following intersections, from west to east: Valley View Avenue, Richfield Road, Eureka Avenue, Fairmont Boulevard, Village Center Drive, San Antonio Road, Via De La Escuela, Stonehaven Drive and New River Road.

* * *

Yorba Linda’s councilmembers have approved a facility use agreement with the American Red Cross to allow using the Tommy Lasorda Jr. Field House on Casa Loma Avenue for a temporary emergency shelter.

Under the agreement, the Red Cross can conduct emergency shelter operations in the event of a disaster, including storage of supplies, parking of vehicles and service center operations.

The Red Cross doesn’t pay to use the facility as a shelter, but the city can be reimbursed for food services, custodial support and utility expenses incurred from shelter operations.

“This agreement provides a proactive, no-cost preparedness measure for the city, while ensuring adequate coordination and liability protection during emergencies,” Chris Pena, the city’s emergency management coordinator, told the council.

Jim Drummond is a longtime Yorba Linda resident. He gives his opinion on local issues weekly. Send e-mail to jimdrummond@hotmail.com.

The school district expects a deficit of close to $43 million, based on total expenditures of some $399 million, while the city anticipates a surplus of $114,256, based on expenses of $49 million. And since the city adopts a two-year budget, another $34,362 surplus is expected in June 2027.

School officials project that the district deficit will drop for each of the next two fiscal years, to a bit more than $20.2 million by June 30, 2027, and to about $15.6 million by June 30, 2028.

Most revenue comes from state funding, but an estimated $10 million is from federal sources.

Another “budget stabilization plan” will be presented to school trustees before they adopt a budget for the next fiscal year. The plan is expected to include established timelines for ongoing budget planning and actions.

According to the plan, “Reductions presented may include tighter staffing at school sites, position reductions and non-personnel cost reductions. Under these assumptions, the board projects the need for $15.6 million in budget reductions in 2026-27 in order to maintain fiscal solvency.”

Enrollment on the district’s 34 campuses is expected to be 21,777, a drop of 175 students from last year. Administrators expect the number to dip to 21,608 next year and 21,438 the year after.

The district’s Orange County School of Computer Science charter at the Bernardo Yorba Middle School campus on Fairmont Boulevard estimates an enrollment of 747 sixth- through eighth-grade students. The budget is expected to show an $848,645 deficit, based on expenditures of about $10 million.

Most of the city’s income will come from property and sales taxes: some $27 million is expected in property taxes and $8.53 million in sales taxes this year and $28 million in property taxes and $8.75 million in sales taxes next year.

Interestingly, both the school district and the city are involved in a search for a top manager, with both the school superintendent and city manager positions expected to be filled before the end of September.

School superintendent Alex Cherniss resigned while he was on leave from his Placentia-Yorba Linda position for a similar post in the 3,100-student Beverly Hills Unified School District.

Mark Pulone is retiring as Yorba Linda’s city manager after 12 years in the position. The application deadline is July 14 for the city manager job.

Update: Opening date for students who will attend the Magnolia Science Academy charter school on the west campus of Esperanza High School is Aug. 26. Trustees approved an agreement for transitional kindergarten through second-grade students to occupy seven portable classrooms on the west Aztec campus.

Jim Drummond is a longtime Yorba Linda resident. He gives his opinion on local issues weekly. Send e-mail to jimdrummond@hotmail.com.

The newly approved charter is planning to provide classes for 120 students in transitional kindergarten through second grade.

The charter students will be housed in seven portable classrooms on the west campus of Esperanza High School in the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District. Esperanza’s west campus was once the site of Orchard Drive Elementary School, which opened in 1965 and closed in 1986.

A 24-page agreement involving the Magnolia Science Academy and Magnolia Education & Research Foundation and the Placentia-Yorba Linda district was approved on a 5-0 vote at a May trustee meeting. The pact was based on a state law that requires districts to make facilities available to public charter schools under certain conditions.

The Magnolia foundation has 10 charters, eight in Los Angeles and one each in Anaheim, Santa Ana and San Diego. The foundation was established in 1997 and focuses on students choosing career paths in science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics, often called STEAM classes. Some of the charters include high school students.

Magnolia foundation officials are looking to locate a private campus within the Placentia- Yorba Linda district’s boundaries, but until a site is found, the charter will be using a part of the Esperanza campus for classes.

The agreement between the two parties is for a single year, with the potential for a second year, if needed. The Magnolia charter will pay the district $10.95 per square foot, for a total of $82,114 for 7,944 square feet of space on the Aztec west campus.

The 10 Magnolia charters report an enrollment of 3,892 students, including 365 in Orange County. An open house is planned 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on June 28 at the Anaheim campus, 412 W. Carl Karcher Way.

The California Republic Leadership Academy charter that opened in fall 2024 is scheduled to add a fourth-grade level to the school’s current transitional kindergarten through third-grade classes on the campus in east Yorba Linda at 23705 Via del Rio, north of La Palma Avenue. First day of school for students is Aug. 27.

Both the Magnolia and California Republic charters were approved on unanimous votes by the five elected members of the Orange County Board of Education. The board has granted 23 charters for site-based instruction, four for independent study and one for both site-based and independent study.

Also opening for the fall semester 2024 was the Orange County School of Computer Science for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students on the Bernardo Yorba Middle School campus at 5350 Fairmont Blvd.

The computer science charter was approved on a 5-0 vote by the Placentia-Yorba Linda district’s trustees, who maintain authority over the charter’s policies and finances. School opens Aug. 26 for the popular charter’s second year of operation.

Jim Drummond is a longtime Yorba Linda resident. He gives his opinion on local issues weekly. Send e-mail to jimdrummond@hotmail.com.

The resolution was presented by Trustee Leandra Blades and supported by Trustee Todd Frazier. Opposition votes were cast by board President Marilyn Anderson and trustees Carrie Buck and Tricia Quintero.

According to the resolution, the restriction was proposed “in order to promote competitive fairness, athlete safety and the integrity of women’s athletics.” The restriction would be “advanced within the scope of the board’s authority and in compliance with Title IX and federal law.”

Title IX became federal law in 1972 to ensure that male and female students and employees in educational settings that receive federal financial support are treated equally and fairly. The law also protects transgender students and students who don’t conform to gender stereotypes.

The failed Placentia-Yorba Linda resolution said participation by biological males in women’s sports “raised concerns about maintaining competitive balance, ensuring athlete safety and preserving opportunities for female athletes.”

The resolution also said, “Title IX was hard fought 50 years ago and put in place to protect women and provide fair opportunities,” and further stated the board “affirms its commitment to supporting and promoting opportunities for female athletes in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.”

Blades said that females were “losing scholarships and rankings” and that it “is time we take a stand for the girls.” Frazier said he agreed and the resolution was “common sense” and “the right thing to do.”

Buck said the resolution “violates the law” and cited various state education code sections. She presented an alternate resolution, but her wording never came to a vote. Quintero said that the district has no transgirls in sports and agreed with Buck to deny the Blades resolution.

Anderson said the resolution would “open the door to litigation” and that proponents should “go to legislators and advocate” their positions. She noted that trustees “do not make the law.”

Jim Drummond is a longtime Yorba Linda resident. He gives his opinion on local issues weekly. Send e-mail to jimdrummond@hotmail.com.

The vote was taken at an April 22 board meeting after the trustees’ unanimous decision to accept a request by former superintendent Alex Cherniss to waive the 45-day resignation notice in his employment contract and approve his departure effective April 30.

The request for proposal will be developed by Acting Superintendent Allan Mucerino. He told trustees that now is “beyond” the best time to begin a search to have someone on board July 1. He said the “next best time” for a new superintendent to start is Jan. 1.

Mucerino said most superintendents would say that Jan. 1 would be the best time to start because they would have the chance to “listen and learn,” make observations, see district processes and build relationships instead of preparing for the start of a new school year.

During discussion, trustees indicated they wanted a search firm that would conduct surveys and hold focus groups to gather input for making a decision. Mucerino noted that input from students would be “critical” in the information-gathering process.

Cherniss, who was placed on paid leave by a 5-0 vote of the Placentia-Yorba Linda trustees at a Dec. 19 meeting, submitted his resignation after he was hired as superintendent for the Beverly Hills Unified School District on a 3-2 trustee vote.

Cherniss’ three-year contract with that 3,300-student, four-campus district was approved on a 5-0 vote April 15. He started his career in the district teaching middle school math, serving as an elementary school principal and later as an assistant superintendent of business services.

Among the speakers at the Beverly Hills district’s April 15 session were Placentia-Yorba Linda district trustee Leandra Blades and the former principal of the district’s Orange County School of Computer Science charter Beth Fisher.

They praised Cherniss’ contributions to the Placentia-Yorba Linda district, specifically citing his role in creating the district’s computer science charter and the Universal Sports Institute.

If the Placentia-Yorba Linda district hires a superintendent before the end of 2025, he or she will be the eighth person to helm the district in the past 10 years, starting with Doug Domene (2012-16), followed by Greg Plutko (2016-20) and James Elsasser (2021-June 2022).

Also: Michael Matthews (acting July 2022-April 2023), Cherniss (May 2023-December 2024), Renee Gray (acting December 2024-February 2025) and Mucerino (acting February 2025-present).

The most recent longest-serving superintendents were Dennis Smith (from 2000 to 2012) and James Fleming (from 1987 to 2000).

Current superintendent pay is $1,518 per day for a 247-day year.

Jim Drummond is a longtime Yorba Linda resident. He gives his opinion on local issues weekly. Send e-mail to jimdrummond@hotmail.com.

The plan, according to Joan Velasco, interim assistant superintendent of administrative services, relies heavily on personnel reductions because 85% of the district’s expenses are employee salaries and benefits.

This year’s deficit for the 22,700-student district is estimated at $11.4 million, rising to $14.5 million next year. The projected deficit for the year following then drops to close to $9 million.

No action was taken on the plan. A public hearing on next year’s budget will be held June 3.

Velasco told trustees that the plan’s goals are to “prioritize student success and maintain essential services” and “ensure fiscal responsibility by identifying non-essential areas for reductions, while minimizing negative impacts on students and staff.”

If implemented as outlined, the plan would save the district $8.4 million, reducing next year’s deficit to nearly $9.6 million, based on the district receiving a 2.43% cost-of-living adjustment in state funding.

The deficit would drop to about $4 million the following year, based on a 3.52% cost-of-living increase, and a $2.4 million surplus would be realized in three years, based on a 3.63% cost-of-living increase.

However, a drop of just 1% in the cost-of-living adjustment from state funding would result in continued deficits in future years, projected at $6.9 million in 2026-27 and $3.4 million for 2027-28, instead of the $2.4 million surplus based on the 3.63% cost-of-living adjustment.

The district’s end-of-year reserve balances are projected at 15% this year; 13.1% next year; 12.3% on June 30, 2027; and 13% on June 30, 2028, under the expected cost-of-living adjustments, and a little less in the two furthest years out under the 1% reduction.

The state requires a 3% reserve and district policy seeks a minimum 5% reserve.

The plan’s $8.4 million in reductions would be achieved by $6.5 million in certificated teacher salaries and benefits, with the remainder in classified and management salaries and benefits and various non-personnel reductions.

Personnel losses would include about 85 teaching, four classified and five management positions, including a few positions that are currently vacant. Some 94 probationary teachers have been notified of layoffs, and about 30 teachers are expected to retire by June 30.

* * *

Beverly Hills Unified School District trustees named Alex Cherniss as superintendent on April 10 on a 3-2 vote. He’s scheduled to begin serving the 3,300-student, four-campus district June 1.

Cherniss began as superintendent of the Placentia-Yorba Linda district May 1, 2023, on a 5-0 vote. His contract was amended in November to require four votes for dismissal on a 3-2 vote, and he was placed on paid leave Dec. 19 on a 5-0 vote.

Jim Drummond is a longtime Yorba Linda resident. He gives his opinion on local issues weekly. Send e-mail to jimdrummond@hotmail.com.

Board President Marilyn Anderson introduced the revisions at a March meeting by saying that fights among audience members had nearly broken out while trustees were in closed session and that people had been followed to their cars in the parking lot.

Stronger wording in the public comment announcement was recommended by Placentia police officials, according to Assistant Superintendent Renee Gray, who was the district’s acting superintendent for a brief period earlier this year.

The two sections of strengthened wording were supplied by the board attorney, Todd Robbins. Trustee Tricia Quintero said the revisions, adopted on a 5-0 vote, will make people “feel safer.”

Among additions to the announcement is the sentence: “Individuals are reminded that they are expected to abide by the civility policy at all times while on district properties, including, but not limited to, hallways, restrooms and parking lots.”

The civility policy, as explained in the public comment announcement, is designed to promote “mutual respect, civility and orderly conduct among district employees, parents and the public.”

The announcement also states: “This policy is not intended to deprive any person of his/her right to freedom of expression, but only to maintain, to the extent possible and reasonable, a safe, harassment-free environment.”

Added wording also states, “Any individual who, during a school board meeting, disrupts with violence or threatens to disrupt with violence school/office operations or threatens the safety of any individual attending or participating in the board meeting will be reported to the police immediately.”

The stronger police- and attorney-recommended section replaces prior wording that merely stated such individuals “will be directed to leave school or school district property promptly.”

Another new section reads, “Additionally, if there are any disruptions or interference of the board’s ability to conduct its meeting, the disruptive parties will be given one warning. If the disruption continues, you’ll be informed that the board president has found you disruptive in violation of (penal and education code sections).”

Then, “the board president will order you removed from the meeting (under a government code section). If removing one or several disruptive parties does not restore order, the board president will exercise their authority to clear the room in accordance with (the government code section).”

Remaining in place is the speaker time allotment, with a maximum of three minutes, sliding to two minutes for 11 to 15 speakers, 1.5 minutes for 16 to 30 speakers and one minute for 31 or more speakers.

Jim Drummond is a longtime Yorba Linda resident. He gives his opinion on local issues weekly. Send e-mail to jimdrummond@hotmail.com.

Trustees also were told of a projected $11.4 million deficit in the district’s unrestricted general fund that is estimated to jump to $14.5 million for the next school year, but then drop to closer to $9 million for 2026-27.

The five challenges include a projected low cost-of-living allowance from the state for the next three years; a loss of one-time revenue, including pandemic-related funding; and rising health and welfare benefit premiums for employees.

Other challenges: annual step and column adjustments for employees based on years of service and, for teachers, degrees and credits, and the state’s “vulnerability to the impacts of uncertain receipt of federal funding, tariffs and changes in immigration policy.”

The list of challenges are part of a state-mandated second interim report due to the county superintendent of schools this month.

Despite the deficit projection, officials could certify the district “will meet its financial obligations for the current and two subsequent fiscal years.”

The report for the district-affiliated Orange County School of Computer Science charter on the Bernardo Yorba Middle School campus noted a deficit of about $1.4 million for the school year.

According to the report, the district “will be preparing a budget stabilization plan for board review prior to the adoption of the 2025-26 school year budget,” with reductions that “may include tighter staffing at school sites, position reductions and non-personnel cost reductions.”

A couple of interesting portions of the report deal with enrollment projections. The first interim report, which was due in December, pegged enrollment on the district’s 34 campuses at 22,726, with the second interim report noting enrollment at 22,700, a 26-student decline.

The second interim report projects further enrollment drops of 70 students in each of the next two years, down to 22,630 in the 2025-26 school year and 22,560 in the 2026-27 school year.

Of course, much of the state’s funding is based on average daily attendance, which is noted at 21,877 this year, dropping 25 students to 21,565 next year and 66 more students to 21,499 for the year after.

* * *

Trustees named Allan Mucerino, a former Alvord and Duarte schools superintendent, acting superintendent on Feb. 19 on a 3-1 vote (Marilyn Anderson, Carrie Buck and Tricia Quintero in favor; Leandra Blades opposed) replacing Renee Gray, who returned to her prior post as assistant superintendent of student support services.

Gray had been named acting superintendent Jan. 14 on a 3-2 vote (Blades, Todd Frazier and Quintero in favor; Anderson and Buck opposed). Beth Fisher resigned as principal of Orange County School of Computer Science effective Feb. 24.

Jim Drummond is a longtime Yorba Linda resident. He gives his opinion on local issues weekly. Send e-mail to jimdrummond@hotmail.com.

The update to the state-mandated Local Control and Accountability Plan lists recent results for a three-year program that outlines “goals, actions, services and expenditures” designed “to support positive student outcomes that address state and local priorities.”

Among the goals of the three-year plan are to provide “innovative, rigorous and relevant educational experiences for all students” and to provide “necessary resources, skills and opportunities for all students to meet or exceed grade-level expectations.”

Other goals include closing academic achievement gaps for English learners, socioeconomically disadvantaged and foster youth students and addressing academic achievement, engagement and school climate for specific student groups and sites.

In English-Language Arts, 65.32% of all students met or exceeded standards at the end of the last school year, an increase of 0.57% from the prior year toward a goal of 70.8% in 2026.

English learners declined by 0.35% to 11.35%, socioeconomically disadvantaged increased by 3.26% to 52.16% and foster youth increased by 8% to 28%, making progress toward goals of 22%, 59% and 30%, respectively.

Administrators noted the district “invested significant funding toward a comprehensive writing program, including professional development provided on ‘writer’s workshop’ at the elementary and middle school levels (and) expository reading and writing at the high school levels.”

And, they said, “Step Up to Writing” is used across all grade levels and academic support teachers continue to work closely with elementary students in need of additional assistance.

In mathematics, 55.95% of all students met or exceeded standards at the end of the last school year, an increase of 2.47% from the prior year toward the goal of 59.95% in 2026.

English learners increased by 0.9% to 11.5%, socioeconomically disadvantaged by 6.4% to 40% and foster youth by 2.3% to 15.6%, making progress toward goals of 21%, 44% and 24%, respectively.

Administrators said, “We continue to invest significant funding toward after-school math intervention in addition to language arts intervention, with the goal of ensuring all students are meeting or exceeding grade level standards.”

Other current data: 95.4% graduation rate toward a 95.8% goal; 1.7% dropout rate toward a less than 1.3% goal; 88.4% Advanced Placement pass rate toward an 88% goal; and a 59.3% A through G university entrance requirement rate toward a 69.5% goal.

Orange County School of Computer Science charter data on meeting or exceeding standards: English-Language Arts at 58.51% toward a 62% goal and math at 49.62% toward a 55% goal.

The suspension rate is 2% toward a less than 2% goal; the chronic absenteeism rate is 13.7% toward a less than 10% goal.

Jim Drummond is a longtime Yorba Linda resident. He gives his opinion on local issues weekly. Send e-mail to jimdrummond@hotmail.com.

The institute opened for the fall semester with about 70 students in third through 12th grades and currently has 97 students, with some 30% from outside district boundaries. A “hope” for the 2025-26 school year is a tally ranging from 150 to 200 students.

A presentation chart showed revenue at nearly $1.4 million and expenses close to $2.3 million (nearly $1.6 million in salaries, with the remainder in materials, contracts and construction) for the current school year.

Generally, the program, known as USI, is described as a “pathway that pairs the independent study program at Parkview School with athletic performance training.” The Parkview campus in Placentia opened in 2001 as a home school program.

The USI “central training hub” is at the site of the district’s Orange County School of Computer Science charter at Bernardo Yorba Middle School in Yorba Linda, but the institute is not part of the computer science charter’s program.

Student-athletes enrolled in USI may participate in the district’s high school sports teams based on their school of residence. An interdistrict attendance agreement must be obtained for students living outside district boundaries. The student-athletes also may take up to two courses at one of the district’s comprehensive high schools.

USI objectives include attracting students from outside the district and retaining current students and providing a flexible learning environment, with specialized athletic training opportunities.

During discussion, individual trustees had questions about the institute, with some concerns regarding financing, including money spent on personnel, contracts and equipment. The amount of money spent per pupil compared to other district programs was a key concern.

Other questions about equity across high schools were raised, since most current participants are from Yorba Linda and Esperanza, with no enrollment from Valencia and just five from El Dorado. Expansion to include dance teams, cheerleading and tumbling was also mentioned.

No action was taken on any alternative program, and Acting Superintendent Renee Gray said trustees had “such a really, really good robust conversation and lots of comments.” She said, “We do have to bring this back to you…and take a vote on it,” which could come at the March meeting.

* * *

An interesting item was dropped from the February agenda on a 5-0 vote: ratification of a retainer agreement with The Titan Group Professional Investigations for “support and due diligence in current and future workplace investigations.”

The contract, if approved, would not have exceeded $20,000 in cost. Gray told trustees, “We no longer need that.”

Jim Drummond is a longtime Yorba Linda resident. He gives his opinion on local issues weekly. Send e-mail to jimdrummond@hotmail.com.