In recent months, discussions have been circling at Ocean View School District regarding its dwindling student population and the effects that has on the district.
OVSD — which serves parts of Huntington Beach, Westminster and Fountain Valley — is home to more than 6,809 students across 15 schools. This number has been slowly declining over the last few years, with a decrease of about 2,600 students since 2013 — close to a 28% drop.
Administrators and OVSD board members are considering closing schools and combining campuses due to the enrollment decline. While the district had proposed in February closing Circle View, Village View and Golden View elementary schools, Superintendent Michael Conroy says a new task force will guide the district in its next steps.
The task force is expected to come to the board at the end of October, said Conroy, with multiple options for what the district can do.
“This task force has been designed with the intention to figure out what is best to do for the community,” said Conroy.
Across Orange County, school enrollment in public institutions has dropped close to 1% since the 2022-23 school year, according to the California Department of Education. Statewide, the average enrollment has mirrored Orange County’s statistics, with the overall state decreasing by about 1% over the past year as well, according to the CDE.
The enrollment decline is due to myriad factors, according to the CDE, including migration from California as well as continuous adjustments from the pandemic, including remote learning.
And California’s birth rate is at its lowest in 100 years which has also contributed to a decline in enrollment, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.
This isn’t the first time OVSD has had to close schools due to a population problem.
From 1982-83 to 1992-93, the district closed seven schools when the enrollment showed that it was down about 1,300 students. Enrollment bounced back up in 2002-03 but has steadily declined since. Most recently, the district closed Sun View in the 2017-18 school year.
So why do school districts decide to close the schools instead of just having smaller classrooms? The simple answer is money.
According to Education Code Section 41372, financial aid is provided to schools from the government based primarily on attendance — less enrollment means less funds. In order to save on finances, schools will choose to close their doors or consolidate so the district does not have to pay for unnecessary property expenses, staff or extra materials for classrooms.
California recently created a new task force to offer recommendations and technical assistance to districts facing declining enrollments, said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond.
“It has been our priority to ensure that students and families are engaged in public schools and that schools meet the needs of families,” Thurmond said during a recent webinar on the topic.
Meanwhile, in OVSD amid the possibility of downsizing, the district is continuing to make updates to its schools. Star View Elementary, the district’s newest magnet school located in Westminster, underwent extensive modernization over the summer, said Conroy.
This included updating playgrounds and classrooms, landscape projects for the campus and new resources — such as new technology and a complete refashioning of teaching materials — for staff and teachers to promote learning in the schools.
Mesa View, Circle View, College View and Marine View schools have also gone through or are going through modernization as well.
“I am excited to add this modernization to the school district and hope we can see the same construction applied at other schools in the district as well,” said Conroy.
