If you move from SVUSD district to Capo how can you keep your kids in present high school? (Los Angeles: homes, transfer)

[dovehome]

My husband and I are seriously thinking of down sizing and moving to the Ladera area. The concern we have though is that we have a child who is now a sophomore at MVHS and don't want her to have to move to another high school for her last 2 years. I have inquired about inter and intra district transfer requests but have heard that since the school is impacted there is probably not a good chance she could stay there. On the other hand, I have heard that the school may permit her to stay if she has been a student there and only has 1 or 2 years left. Also, a neighbor mentioned to me that there a ways to work around all of that but I'm not so sure.

[NewportBorn]

Hmm, usually you can keep your kid there if they are currently going.

I'm curious why impaction would matter, since the student is already attending that school.

The only hold back I can think of is that you will have to provide transportation, (no busing)

[Charles]

Originally Posted by dovehome

I have inquired about inter and intra district transfer requests but have heard that since the school is impacted there is probably not a good chance she could stay there.

Did you call the school district directly and speak with an official?
Did the possibility depend on anything ("...not a good chance...")?

[dovehome]

Hi NewportBorn,
Thank you for your reply. Strangely enough I just got the SVUSD School of Choice pamphlet in the mail and quickly called the school to find out the story. They told me not only do you have to apply with this district you also have to apply for a "release" from the other district. They also said that regardless of whether the school is impacted or not you must reside in the boundaries of that high school. The phone conversation basically ended with a very negative feeling. Don't quite get it and I wonder if there is any other option or loophole.

[bhcompy]

You are correct.

Step one is asking the district to where you are moving to allow the child to transfer. The child is $$ to the district, so some districts will not authorize transfers for the most part(my experience with Norwalk Unified), especially with all the schools in major budget crunches.

Step two is asking the district where you are sending the child to accept them, which depends on the child. Usually they want some type of reason for it(babysitter, work, etc), but since your child is going to be a junior, that would probably be sufficient.

And then something to remember is that if your child has poor grades or gets in trouble(fight or drugs or something), they will not hesitate to expel the child and revoke the transfer.

Basically, your child is property of the district with which you reside, and that property has monetary value. You need permission to transfer from one district to another by both districts because of tax dollar implications.

[missionhome]

Good luck. Capistrano Unified is NOT friendly with inter-district transfers at all. CUSD must release you and say it is ok for you to attend another districts' school. This was very easy up until 2003 when CUSD basically said they would refuse to allow inter-district transfers unless it is an extreme circumstance. If you are moving to the portion of Ladera Ranch in the boundaries for San Juan Hills High School, you are even more out of luck. The district has even sort of stopped transfers to other CUSD high schools for those in the SJHHS boundaries because so many people did not want to go to the school and the district really wants to see this school grow. You will need a very good reason for the transfer other than "she wants to stay with friends."

You need to call Capistrano Unified too and see how they are feeling at the moment about inter-district transfers. I'm sorry to break it to you, but this is a difficult and complex process. I understand your daughter wanting to remain at the school she has started at.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by dovehome

My husband and I are seriously thinking of down sizing and moving to the Ladera area. The concern we have though is that we have a child who is now a sophomore at MVHS...

You'd only have to wait 2.5 years then you can downsize. (Though, simplistically, it is better to downsize in a rising market and move up in a falling market.)

Besides, think of all the money you are saving by not moving - a good rule of thumb for which is about 8%-10% of the cost of the house.....so if you live in those neighborhoods....that's like $50K or more - cash, out of your pocket.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by missionhome

The district has even sort of stopped transfers to other CUSD high schools for those in the SJHHS boundaries because so many people did not want to go to the school....

I've been out of the loop on this but just now did a few minutes of research and read some old OCRegister and LATimes articles. This whole reboundary thing was a big deal. A lot of Ladera and Capistrano Beach people were really unhappy.

How are realtors working the whole Ladera Ranch thing with northern LR kids going to (proven and high performing) Tesoro and southern LR kids going to (new, shiny, unproven, diverse) SJH?

Has the split boundary for high schools affected property values (presuming demand is lower for the homes zoned to SJH)?

"It’s like we’re sending our kids to another state. They’re going to go to school with kids from families we don’t know – a lot of them will be from lower-income and single-parent homes.” “We’re not rancheros,” agreed another mother, Vickie Patterson, using the Spanish word for rancher."


"With district projections that more than a third of students at San Juan Hills would be Latino, a website the group posted warned parents that “the high ethnic ratios would ensure a larger percentage of children from San Juan Capistrano who are at risk of failure and who do not perform well on standardized testing would attend” the new school."


"I don’t know a single parent that isn’t looking at other options if they force us to go to that school – either moving or a private school,” said Pam Marshak, a Capistrano Beach resident whose daughter is slated to attend the new high school. “We will do what is best for our kids, and going there is not best for them.”

from


School Boundaries Often Lines in the Sand - Los Angeles Times

San Juan Hills High School Controversy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Fontucky]

Amazingly retarded. They're sending Capo Beach (where I grew up) kids to that new school that's out the Ortega Hwy, rather than send them to San Clemente HS which is a mere 3 miles away.

[Charles]

Anybody know of a new high school after SJH and Tesoro?

"He also said that when Ladera II is eventually built out, another High School will be built and it will change all the school borders again."

from


Ladera Ranch