After nearly two hours of discussion during a special meeting Tuesday evening, the OVSD board said it will vote on whether to close, consolidate or repurpose the schools during its regularly scheduled Nov. 14 meeting. The pending decision will culminate a year of surveys and studies conducted by a task force made up of OVSD parents, teachers and other stakeholders amid concerns about dwindling enrollment.

“In retrospect, we should have started these conversations years ago, but we didn’t,” Board President Patricia Singer said Tuesday evening. “We are here now. We have been talking about it and have been open and transparent.”

The board will decide on each of the four schools separately, said Singer, meaning each could have different outcomes.

OVSD — which serves parts of Huntington Beach, Westminster, Fountain Valley and Midway City — is home to more than 6,800 students across 15 schools. The district has had a drop of about 2,600 students since 2013, and it closed Sun View Elementary in Huntington Beach in 2018 because of declining enrollment.

The decision to move forward with a vote next week came after the board was presented with the task force’s 19 recommendations to address dropping enrollment in the district. Those recommendations had been split into four categories — innovative, instructional, financial and property management — and included ideas like leasing out unused property, combining certain elementary schools or opening up Golden View’s petting zoo as a field trip destination for other sites.

On Tuesday, the board considered the financial impact of closing, consolidating or repurposing the schools as well as suggestions to receive additional funds.

Smaller class sizes for the four targeted schools was one such idea to help cut back on costs while also increasing academic achievement.

“Students can speak more and teachers get to have deeper relationships” with smaller classrooms, said Julianne Hoefer, an assistant superintendent at OVSD. And that could ultimately attract more students to the district, she said.

But Trustee Morgan Westmoreland disagreed.

“Although I like the idea of having smaller schools, when you drill down what that means, especially at a middle school level, I think we are doing a disservice to our students,” said Westmoreland. “We put ourselves in the position to start operating small schools, and then a few years down the road, we see the same issues come up that we see now, and we could possibly see the state take over. I don’t want that.”

During an October meeting of the task force, Superintendent Michael Conroy said the district is overstaffed by at least 22 teachers because of the lower student enrollment, costing the district an estimated $2.3-3.5 million.

Trustee Gina Clayton-Tarvin said OVSD should “encourage older teachers in the district to retire.”

“I saw that on the (task force’s) report that it said in regards to enticing teachers to retire that the (financial) impact is minimal. I beg to differ. I think if we entice teachers to retire with substantial incentives, we could be successful,” she said.

Trustees Norm Westwell and Westmoreland predicted schools would consolidate.

“I think the writing is on the wall,” said Westmoreland. “I don’t want to be the leader of a district where decisions are made years down the line where it puts our district in financial distress. The information I have in front of me does not constitute us continuing to operate 10 elementary schools and four middle schools with our current population.”

Westwell said: “I don’t think we have done enough to cut the excessive spending that we have done in our district. But it looks like a decision has already been made: We are going to consolidate schools.”

A coalition of Village View Elementary parents is urging the district to opt against consolidating or closing their students’ campus. They have spearheaded a petition that has been signed by more than 1,500 people as of Wednesday afternoon, urging the board not to consider closure.

Village View parent Ryan Joly said he and other parents plan to meet with Westmoreland and Clayton-Tarvin next week to discuss the future of the schools.

Parents of students at the other schools have been outspoken on social media as well. Other petitions have circulated in previous months in attempts to keep the schools open.

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  Children are greeted by staff as they trick or treat during Fountain Valley Regional Hospital’s annual Pediatric Halloween parade and party on Tuesday, October 31, 2023. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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  Fountain Valley Regional Hospital’s Pediatric Halloween Parade features some scary characters like this police-car driving skeleton on Tuesday, October 31, 2023. Local law enforcement and firefighters were also at the event. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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  Audrey Hill, 7 weeks, is held by PICU Nurse Sabrina Dela Roca during the Fountain Valley Regional Hospital Pediatric Halloween Parade on Tuesday, October 31, 2023. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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  Nurse Melissa Garcia breaks out in song while dressed as Super Mario during Fountain Valley Regional Hospital’s annual Pediatric Halloween party on Tuesday, October 31, 2023. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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  Fountain Valley Regional Hospital’s staff gets into the Halloween spirit with a pumpkin-decorating contest on Tuesday, October 31, 2023. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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  Fountain Valley Regional Hospital Social Worker Elizabeth Anaya and her leadership group dressed as sweet treats during the annual Pediatric Halloween Parade and party on Tuesday, October 31, 2023. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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  Pinocchio, a.k.a. 5-year-old Aiden Ayala, leads the annual Fountain Valley Regional Hospital Pediatric Halloween Parade with rescued dog Hazel the Hobbler on Tuesday, October 31, 2023. Aiden is a former pediatric patient and Hazel was rescued by Georgia and Glenn Bleiweis after she was hit by a car and abandoned. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Fountain Valley Regional Hospital’s 17th annual Pediatric Halloween celebration gave pediatric patients, some of whom spend up to eight months in the hospital, a chance to experience the happiness of Halloween on Tuesday.

Costumed staff, local firefighters and law enforcement and several community organizations passed out candy and other treats to the children who were also in costume.

The task force was convened earlier this year to determine if four schools — Circle View, Village View and Golden View elementary schools as well as Spring View Middle School — should close due to declining enrollment in the district or if schools should otherwise be consolidated or repurposed.

The school board scheduled a special study session on Tuesday, Nov. 7 to assess the results of the task force’s recommendations, said Trustee Jack Souders. Those 19 ideas will be whittled down to nine options after that November meeting, he said.

The task force’s recommendations were split into four categories: innovative, instructional, financial and property management suggestions.

Property management suggestions include leasing unused properties before closing them or developing empty sites for senior living, employee housing or sports complexes.

The task force also took a look at options with Spring View Middle in Huntington Beach. It suggested the middle school be remodeled to be able to house an elementary school for grades kindergarten through fifth. Its middle school students, the task force said, could be moved to the three other middle schools within the district.

In all, the task force said, three elementary schools could be consolidated into Spring View. And the current middle school, according to the task force, could also become home for OVSD’s office in Huntington Beach.

The district could consolidate Golden View Elementary with College View Elementary, the task force also suggested.

Its innovative ideas for the district include identifying elective programs that could be moved from the four targeted schools to other sites in the district, making Golden View’s farm (a petting zoo and garden attached to the school) as a field trip destination for other sites or enticing teachers to retire.

During an October meeting of the task force, OVSD Superintendent Michael Conroy said the district is overstaffed by at least 22 teachers because of the lower student enrollment, costing the district an estimated $2.3-3.5 million.

As for instructional ideas, the task force recommended opening Golden View’s farm to other school districts for a rental fee, offering instructional programs that aren’t available at other nearby districts and developing new innovative curricula at its schools.

The task force also suggested returning all students in the “Gifted and Talented Education” programs to their home schools to complete their education. Students who qualify for GATE are offered a unique, advanced education program at Circle View and Star View elementary schools as well as Mesa View Middle School. Qualifying students transfer from their home schools to these campuses to complete the program, but the task force recommended the program be offered at their home schools instead.

As for financial ideas, OVSD could address over-staffing as a cost-saving method, the task force suggested, or look for grants and other creative funding approaches for campus improvement projects.

There will not be a vote during the special meeting, but Board President Patricia Singer said one is expected within the following months.

At the final task force meeting on Oct. 12, the results of an anonymous survey completed last month by members were unveiled. In the survey, 22 respondents favored a plan to consolidate and repurpose schools, targeting one or two per designed year. However, 14 respondents said it would be better to consolidate schools all at once.

The task force, convened by district officials in February, is made up of more than 40 members from around the OVSD community, including parents and teachers.

OVSD has grappled with the decision to consolidate, close or repurpose four schools in the district in recent months because of a dwindling student population and the effects that has had on the district.

Board Vice President Gina Clayton-Tarvin has said she does not want to see schools closed or consolidated.

“As a parent of the district and a faithful member of the board, this is not the direction I will vote on nor foresee happening,” Clayton-Tarvin said.

OVSD — which serves parts of Huntington Beach, Westminster, Fountain Valley and Midway City — is home to more than 6,809 students across 15 schools. The district has had a drop of about 2,600 students since 2013, and it most recently closed Sun View Elementary in Huntington Beach in 2018 due to the lack of enrollment.

Ramirez was among dozens who gathered at a Curacao store in Fountain Valley to reunite with elderly family members from Jalisco, Mexico. The visit was made possible through a partnership Curacao has with Fundación Jalisco USA, a nonprofit dedicated to bettering the social, economic and educational development of people from the Mexican state.

The store hosted the reunion in its home furniture section, with waiting families sitting at the dining room tables. Germán Salazar Mauricio, an immigration lawyer with the nonprofit, played the emcee for the event, calling up each family one at a time, asking questions to draw out the suspense as their arriving family members were brought out from where they had been hidden behind a divider.

He asked Ramirez what she was feeling seconds away from seeing her parents again after moving from Mexico to Sacramento 24 years ago. She had few words to offer, saying simply “emocionada.” For her daughter standing with her, it was going to be the first time she met her grandparents in person; they were also meeting their great-grandson for the first time.

As her parents emerged from the backdrop, Ramirez went straight for her mom, the two hugging and crying; her father embraced his granddaughter for a long moment, talking quietly into her ear.

Then they stepped aside so the reunions could continue.

“The hugs after so long. The tears of happiness, sadness and joy,” Mauricio said. “That’s it. That’s dreams coming true.”

One by one, 25 families, many with balloons and flowers, welcomed their loved ones.

Soon Ramirez was taking her father’s suitcase to put in the car for the ride home as Francisco Ramirez Perez said, “Thank God that we finally can see each other. I feel nostalgic and passionate. We’re overcome with emotion because of so many years not seeing everyone.”

The Reuniting Families program is designed specifically for elders ages 57 and older who have children living in the United States. Fundación Jalisco USA helps them apply for their U.S. visas, which allow them to visit for one month before they return to Mexico. The program also supports the participants in applying for longer-term visas in the future.

The program almost sounded too good to be true, said Arturo Ramos, who along with his brother, hadn’t seen his parents in more than 20 years.

“I think at first I had my doubts because of scams, but the process was really straightforward,” Ramos said, adding that programs that support family reunification are crucial. Navigating immigration can be so difficult for families who aren’t experienced with visas and the rules.

Benjamin Estrada, general manager at the Curacao store, said he will never grow tired of seeing family members brought back together. This was the sixth round of reunions he’s hosted at the store.

“The program is really important, especially for most of the people who haven’t seen their parents for so long,” Estrada said. “But really, the takeaway is how a lot of times we don’t really appreciate that we could see our parents every day. When you see this, it gets people to appreciate their elders more.”

The task force was convened earlier this year to determine if four schools — Circle View, Village View and Golden View elementary schools as well as Spring View Middle School — should close due to declining enrollment in the district or if schools should otherwise be consolidated or repurposed.

Overall, the task force provided 19 options to the OVSD board, and they will be discussed during the board committee reports section of its meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 24, according to Board President Patricia Singer.

The board won’t vote on any of the recommendations on Tuesday, Singer said, but a decision is expected next month.

At the final task force meeting on Oct. 12, OVSD Superintendent Michael Conroy presented data on the district’s financial prospects. The district, Conroy said, is overstaffed by at least 22 teachers because of the lower student enrollment, costing the district between $2.3-3.5 million.

The task force also unveiled the results of an anonymous survey that its members completed last month. In the survey, 22 respondents favored a plan to consolidate and repurpose schools, targeting one or two per designed year. However, 14 respondents said it would be better to consolidate schools all at once.

Specifics on a consolidation plan were not given during the meeting, but Conroy said it could involve all four of the targeted schools or be a mix of them. Other options included reducing each grade to only having three teachers or folding one of the four targeted schools with a different school within the district.

Only eight members said the schools should not be consolidated or repurposed.

The task force, convened by district officials in February, is made up of more than 40 members from around the OVSD community, including parents and teachers.

OVSD has grappled with the decision to consolidate, close or repurpose schools in recent months because of a dwindling student population and the effects that has had 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. The district has had a drop of about 2,600 students since 2013, and it most recently closed Sun View Elementary in Huntington Beach in 2018 due to the lack of enrollment.

OVSD Board Vice President Gina Clayton-Tarvin attributed the decline in enrollment to an overall decline in the birth rate in California as well as the older population that occupies the district rather than the state of education.

“We have an aging community who we love and appreciate, but I know we need school-age children to keep this district going,” said Clayton-Tarvin. “We need younger families living in the area.”

She does not want to see schools closed or consolidated. “As a parent of the district and a faithful member of the board, this is not the direction I will vote on nor foresee happening,” Clayton-Tarvin said.

Neither of the other board members nor Conroy responded to requests for comment.

The OVSD board will meet today at 6 p.m. at 17200 Pinehurst Lane in Huntington Beach.

Enjoy them now, because most of these league rivalries are very unlikely to be around next season.

They could continue as nonleague games, but it’s more fun when a playoff berth or a league championship is at stake.

Orange County high schools agreed this past spring to reassemble its football leagues and conferences after this season. With the exception of the Trinity League teams, all of the Orange County 11-player football teams will placed into one basket. CalPreps’ ratings will be used to place teams into leagues. This is a football-only plan. League and conference memberships will be different for other sports.

If the 2023 football season was over, what would the leagues look like in 2024?

Let’s do this … but first a couple of items to know …

Again, the Trinity League is excluded. The four football teams with the top ratings by CalPreps will be in one league, then there will be 10 six-team leagues, and the bottom five teams in one league.

The league names have not been finalized, so the working titles are Orange County Football Conference A (OCFC A) and Orange County Football Conference B (OCFC B),etc. For this exercise, we’re going with “leagues.”

The previous two years of ratings will be used to place teams into leagues, weighted at 65 percent for the 2023 season and 35 percent weighted for the 2022 season.

Going into this week’s games, with rounded-off ratings totals, here are what the leagues would look like in 2024 (league members listed in alphabetical order):

League A: Edison, Los Alamitos, Mission Viejo, San Clemente.

League B: Corona del Mar, Newport Harbor, San Juan Hills, Tesoro, Villa Park, Yorba Linda.

League C: Capistrano Valley, Cypress, El Modena, Trabuco Hills, Tustin, Western.

League D: El Dorado, Foothill, Huntington Beach, La Habra, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills.

League E: Crean Lutheran, Dana Hills, Fountain Valley, Irvine, Northwood, Orange.

League F: Aliso Niguel, Canyon, El Toro, Santa Ana, St. Margaret’s, Troy.

League G: Brea Olinda, Esperanza, Kennedy, Segerstrom, Sonora, Sunny Hills.

League H: Beckman, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Marina, Valencia, Westminster.

League I: Buena Park, Calvary Chapel, Pacifica, Portola, University, Woodbridge.

League J: Estancia; Katella, Los Amigos, Ocean View, Rancho Alamitos, Santa Ana Valley.

League K: Anaheim, Bolsa Grande, Costa Mesa, La Quinta, Loara, Santiago.

League L: Century, Godinez Magnolia, Saddleback, Savanna.

The margins could be tight when teams are placed into football leagues for the 2024 season. Through eight games of this season, using the Calpreps ratings, Irvine’s rating is 4.79 and Aliso Niguel’s is 4.78. So if the 2023 season was over now, Irvine would be the bottom team in League E and Aliso Niguel would be the top team in League F.

NOTES

CIF-SS football playoff brackets will be released Oct. 29 at 10 a.m. The 8-man football playoff brackets will be released Oct. 29 at 1 p.m. …

Yes, Orange County has 8-man football. Sage Hill, in Newport Beach, is in the Prep League and is 4-2 overall and 0-1 in league and averages 48 points a game. Vista Meridian, in Santa Ana, plays a freelance schedule and is 1-4. …

The CIF-SS Division 1 football championship game will be played at the Coliseum on Nov. 24. The first CIF championship football game played at the Coliseum was in 1923 when Long Beach Poly defeated Glendale 15-8. The most recent CIF final at the Coliseum was in 1997 when Long Beach Poly beat Mater Dei 28-25. …

It looks like the Pacific Coast Conference schools will present a proposal at Monday’s releaguing meeting that would exclude Rosary from its group. This past spring Orange County schools included Rosary in the Pacific Coast group in the approved releaguing plan for all sports outside of football. The Freeway League, which would be broken up in the passed proposal, has indicated that it would present a proposal that would keep its membership intact. …

Holly Barker of Trabuco Hills and Evan Noonan of Dana Hills, so far, are making it easy to select the Orange County boys and girls cross country athletes of the year by winning or finishing high in just about every race they enter. Barker won last weekend’s Orange County Championships and earlier finished first in the Central Park Invitational. Noonan finished first in the Orange County Championships, the Woodbridge Classic and was third in the Clovis Invitational. …

The CIF-SS Division 1 girls volleyball playoffs started Wednesday. Mater Dei swept Palos Verdes in three sets (the first was a tough one, 27-25), Los Alamitos lost to Mira Costa in three sets and Huntington Beach swept Alemany (and another tough first set there, with the Oilers winning 28-26). Division 1 pool play resumes Tuesday with Los Alamitos at Huntington Beach. Huntington Beach beat Los Alamitos in their two Surf League matches. …

Newport Harbor’s girls flag football team had its closest win of the season Wednesday, a 14-12 victory over Edison. Newport Harbor is 21-1, with the loss to Woodbridge, which Newport Harbor defeated a couple of weeks later.

A recent graduate of Sage Oak Charter High School, Hannah Karanick of Anaheim was awarded the 18 Under 18 Award by National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS), a scholarship that recognizes young students who spread positivity and show leadership in their communities through their passions.

During her lifetime, Hannah has had 15 foster siblings. She saw that many of her classmates were in similar situations as her siblings and worked with her principal to provide resources to children in need. She founded Hannah’s Helpful Hands, a free charity inside a closet at her local elementary school where teachers can discreetly give students what they need, like toiletries, laundry supplies, new clothes, blankets and gift cards for new shoes.

Hannah fundraises and restocks the closet weekly. Over the past four years, Hannah’s Helpful Hands has expanded to 12 schools and has helped hundreds of kids in need. Hannah’s goal is to bring her charity to a national level.

NSHSS, the organization that awarded Hannah the scholarship, is the premier honors and scholarship program co-founded by Claes Nobel and James Lewis. It offers a lifetime of benefits, pairing the highest performing students worldwide with high school and college scholarships, events, connections, internships and career opportunities. For more information, visit nshss.org.

– Submitted by Sarah Ciuba

Fountain Valley carrier receives Postmaster General Hero Award

Fountain Valley letter carrier Jonathan Paterson was awarded the Postmaster General Hero Award in a special ceremony surrounded by colleagues, U.S. Postal Service managers and a customer who can now call her neighborhood carrier a “hero.”

The award is presented to those who perform a heroic act above and beyond the call of duty while on the job.

Paterson aided an injured customer as she was lying on the road, seeking help. Fountain Valley resident Maria Chavez was out for a stroll when she tripped on a rock and fell onto the pavement.

“I was crying for help, but no one could hear me,” Chavez said. “Jon was driving by, saw me lying there and stopped to help.”

“I didn’t know how long she’s been there,” Paterson said, “but as she turned her head, I could see the cut and swelling on her face. There was blood everywhere, so I did what anyone would do.

“I checked her injuries and looked to see if she had a concussion. After calling her son, I was able to help Mrs. Chavez to her house, cleaned her up a bit, and stayed with her until her son arrived.”

Emergency services were called and transported Chavez to the hospital to treat her wounds.

“Jonathan’s quick actions and aid to our customer makes him a hero in the eyes of the Postal Service and to the community,” said USPS manager Cipriano Corona Lisa Baldwin.

The U.S. Postal Service is observing the 20th anniversary of the Postmaster General Heroes’ Program, which was created in 2003 to commend USPS employees who go above and beyond the call of duty in a variety of situations, such as assisting lost children, getting help for sick or injured customers, spotting fires and more.

Around 5,500 individuals, known as PMG heroes, have been recognized through the program, which reflects a simple, yet powerful, idea: Because they know the habits of their customers and the rhythms of their communities, Postal Service employees are often the first to notify emergency personnel and render aid when something is wrong.

– Submitted by USPS

Beechwood School students celebrate new hockey rink on campus

Beechwood School students have a new spot to practice sports, thanks to the latest collaboration between the Fullerton School District (FSD) and the Anaheim Ducks/Middle School NHL PA (Players Association) grant for the donation of a rink.

The new rink will serve the entire FSD school hockey league, its expansions and the Beechwood students.

The latest reveal celebration is the third rink donation from the Anaheim Ducks Foundation and Anaheim Ducks S.C.O.R.E. Program to FSD. The event was held in the new rink at Beechwood School and featured district staff alongside Anaheim Ducks dignitaries.

The Honda Center DJ, JoJo, and Wild Wing attended the event with a long-term Anaheim Ducks S.C.O.R.E. teacher.

“We are extremely grateful for our partnership with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks and the Ducks S.C.O.R.E. Program. Their generous donation in providing a street hockey rink at Beechwood will help grow our middle school street hockey league,” said Sung Chi, director of Educational Services for FSD.

– Submitted by Fullerton School District

The Bravo! section highlights achievements of our residents and groups. Send news of achievements for consideration to ocrbravo@gmail.com.

The popular event — also called the Mid-Autumn Festival or Tết Trung Thu in Vietnamese — celebrates harvest time, prosperity and family.

“The annual Moon Festival is a chance for families to come together and celebrate new beginnings and shared traditions,” said Supervisor Andrew Do, who represents the Little Saigon community.

The festival featured traditional moon cakes, live entertainment, lanterns, face painting and more fun for kids and families.

“Starting September 25, we are hitting the pause button to shape a brighter future and even more exciting future for Gem Dining,” Kei Concepts, the team behind Gem Dining, posted to the restaurant’s social media.

Management went on to say “this isn’t a goodbye” but instead “a bittersweet pause, a moment of gratitude and anticipation as we dream up a Gem Dining that is reborn, reenergized and richer in spirit.”

Opening in 2018, Gem Dining, helmed by executive chef Viet Nguyen, who also owns nearby Vox Kitchen as well as Sūp Noodle Bars in Buena Park and Cerritos, received positive reviews for its contemporary take on Pacific Rim cuisine through a California lens. The Michelin Guide also listed it as a notable restaurant, highlighting Nguyen’s kampachi crudo with beet-cured amberjack and compressed mango, laksa risotto and sticky toffee pudding.

“This restaurant was supposed to be an institution for all of us, all of our chefs, to come together in one space to create a lot of amazing cuisines,” said Nguyen in a video posted to Instagram. However, when the pandemic hit, Kei Concept opened Nếp Cafe inside Gem Dining in an effort to remain open and lucrative. It worked: A second Nếp Cafe location in Irvine opened in 2022 following the popularity of the Vietnamese coffee and brunch concept in Fountain Valley.

“Nếp has been a tremendous success, but obviously because of that there is a lot of stress on the space. The space is getting too small for two concepts,” said Nguyen, noting that Sunday, Sept 24, was the last day for Gem Dining in its current iteration.

During Gem’s hiatus, staff will reportedly take time off to travel and “learn more cuisine to come back with a much better menu, better space … we hope to show you what our travels have brought back,” said the chef.

Neither a re-opening date nor a possible new location have been announced.

Nếp Cafe will remain open inside the Gem Dining space. Starting Monday, Sept. 25, the Fountain Valley cafe will have new hours: Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Here are some observations and opinions on what has happened so far, and what might happen in coming weeks.

Let’s start with some awards for the first half of the season:

Offensive player of the year: Mater Dei quarterback Elijah Brown.

Quarterback is the most important position on the field and among the more difficult positions to master in team sports. Sometimes mega-talented teams like Mater Dei get by with an average or slightly above-average quarterback, but Brown is a major reason for the Monarchs’ success.

Other players who probably will be in our county offensive player of the year conversation in December are San Clemente running back Aiden Rubin, Tustin running back Eimesse Essis and Santa Margarita receiver Trent Mosley.

Defensive player of the year: Capistrano Valley linebacker Jackson Sievers.

He is credited for a county-leading 67 total tackles with 48 solo tackles and seven tackles for loss. The Cougars are 5-0 going into Friday’s game at Barstow.

Others who have looked like sure-thing All-County defense selections are San Juan Hills linebackers Jake Javorsky and Weston Port and San Clemente linebacker Puka Fuimaono.

Coach of the year: Robert Frith of San Juan Hills.

The Stallions went 4-8 last year and their 2022 league co-MVP quarterback transferred out. Yet they took a 5-0 record and No. 10 position in the Orange County Top 25 into this week. …

Upset of the year: Servite’s 28-24 win over Los Alamitos.

PLAYOFF OUTLOOK

At the brink of the season’s halfway point, it’s worth taking a look at the CalPreps rankings that will be used to place teams in playoff divisions after the regular season ends.

If Division 1 is a 10-team bracket like it was last year, then based on the rankings this week the Orange County teams in Division 1 would be Mater Dei, Orange Lutheran, Santa Margarita and Mission Viejo.

San Clemente’s rating is 49.8, just below the 50 rating of Oaks Christian, which would be the 10th and last team placed in Division 1 if it is a 10-team bracket again.

San Clemente would be the top-seeded team in Division 2, which was a 16-team division last season.

TRINITY LEAGUE OUTLOOK

Mater Dei and St. John Bosco again are the top two teams in the Trinity League with a considerable drop to the other four teams, which seem to be very similar in quality.

Predicted final standings: 1. Mater Dei; 2. St. John Bosco; 3. Orange Lutheran; 4. Santa Margarita; 5. Servite; 6. JSerra.

The four-through-six order of finish could be reversed, that’s how tight those three teams are.

SECOND-HALF PREDICTIONS

Segerstrom at Garden Grove on Oct. 19 will decide the championship of the Big 4 League. …

Villa Park will take a 10-0 record into the playoffs. The Spartans have a great running attack led by running back Carter Christie and an active defense that features linebacker Jacob Johnson. Villa Park likely will need to improve its passing game to get to a CIF-SS championship game. …

Tustin is set to go 5-0 in the Empire League. The top competition there is Cypress which still is a capable team but lacks the number of offensive playmakers it has had in recent seasons. …

La Habra is 2-3 but still is the beat team in the Freeway League. …

El Modena vs. El Dorado on Sept. 30 at Valencia High is the likely league championship game in the North Hills League. …

Orange still is the team to beat in the Orange Coast League. Santa Ana and its ace running back Charles Hughes are the Panthers’ top challenger in the seven-team league. …

Laguna Beach junior quarterback Jackson Kollock (6-4, 225) might be the current county high school quarterback who will go furthest in college or perhaps pro football. …

Western is going to go 5-0 again in the Orange League with large margins of victory in all five league games. …

Laguna Hills should not be as good as it is. Graduation took away most of the Hawks’ top players from last year’s CIF-SS and state championship team but here they are, taking a 5-0 record into this week. …

Irvine vs. Beckman on Oct. 19 at Tustin High will be the Pacific Hills League championship game. …

San Juan Hills is the best team in the Sea View League. Trabuco Hills is second best. …

It’s going to be Mission Viejo in first place and San Clemente in second again in the South Coast League. Tesoro is the league’s No. 3 team in the four-team league. Capistrano Valley will be the best last-place team in county football outside of the Trinity League. …

Predicted order of finish in the Sunset League, which is the most difficult league to forecast: 1. Los Alamitos; 2. Edison; 3. Corona del Mar; 4. Newport Harbor; 5. Huntington Beach; 6. Fountain Valley, which is better than it was last year. …

Five of the six teams in the Garden Grove League are .500 or better. That is unusual for that league. …

The Sage Hill 8-man football team is 3-0 going into Friday’s away game against Hesperia Christian. The Lightning’s average margin of victory is 40 points. …

Officials are getting confronted by parents as they leave fields after games. The refs do make mistakes and this seems to be the year in which, more than ever before, 15-yard penalties are marked off as 14- or 16-yard penalties. Parents need to get themselves under control and athletic directors must make sure their school provides the officials with ample security.