School for Arts Seeks Bond Funding

Supporters of the Orange County High School of the Arts have their hopes pinned on a state bond that goes before voters in November. If approved, the measure would include funding that would help the charter school meet a promise to boost its enrollment of Santa Ana students.

The $13-billion bond measure includes $400 million for charter schools. The arts high school would get $10 million to open--as soon as next year--a charter elementary school intended to prepare Santa Ana students for the arts high school’s demanding entrance auditions. The money would be used to buy and renovate an office building at Sycamore and 10th streets next to the high school downtown.

The elementary campus could direct hundreds of low-income Latino students into the charter high school, helping bridge a cultural gap that has prevented the school from meeting a requirement that it recruit 30% of its student body from the Santa Ana Unified School District.

The district imposed the quota as a condition of sponsoring the independently run school after it moved from Los Alamitos in 2000 in search of a larger campus.

With a $20-million state loan, the school bought three buildings downtown to house classrooms and practice areas. The city’s redevelopment agency provided a $1.6-million start-up grant.

Although most charter schools give local students preference, quotas are unusual, state officials say. Santa Ana Unified officials said they wanted the quota to ensure its students benefited from the school.

But “one of the lessons learned is that we were overly optimistic in terms of what needed to be done to get to the goal we wanted,” said John Palacio, president of the Santa Ana Unified school board.

In three years the number of Santa Ana students has grown dramatically, from six to 131. This makes Santa Ana the biggest contributor to the student body, whose hometowns include Palm Desert, Carlsbad and Rancho Palos Verdes.

They come for intensive training in music, creative writing, dance, film, television, opera and visual arts. Students attend regular academic classes from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., take a break, then study their disciplines in the arts until about 5 p.m.

Still, at less than 11% of the enrollment of about 1,200, the Santa Ana contingent is far smaller than the required 30%.

The high school has tried other ways to attract Santa Ana students, but none has produced significant results. Last year, for example, the school added ballet folklorico as a discipline, but only five students from Santa Ana Unified chose it.

The latest idea is to create a feeder school, the Santa Ana Elementary Arts Academy, that would be open only to Santa Ana students. It would open with kindergarten through third-grade classes for about 300 children, adding grades as the children advance. This means it would take four years for the first students to reach the arts campus, which serves grades 7 through 12.

Officials say the low numbers stem in part from a cultural mismatch between the school’s mission and the lifestyles of local immigrant families--as well as their preference for neighborhood schools.

“This is an elite school in a sea of poverty,” said Santa Ana Unified board member Nativo V. Lopez, noting that 85% of the district’s students qualify for free lunches. “People are intimidated.”

“It is a certain mind-set” among families in the city that discourages them from applying, acknowledged Ralph Opacic, the school’s executive director. “We need to raise the awareness of the kids in Santa Ana.”

The elementary school is an ambitious project for a school struggling to meet its own fund-raising goals. This year, the school cut support staff when it fell $300,000 short of its $2.5-million annual fund-raising goal, Opacic said.

The new elementary school won’t require private fund-raising to build or operate, relying instead on bond funding as well as state and federal grants, Opacic said. Aggressive fund-raising, however, will remain a fact of life for the high school.

Because the arts high school is a charter school, the state pays 60% of its $10-million operating budget, covering the basic academic mission. Last year, the remaining 40% came from $2 million in private donations raised by the charter school’s nonprofit fund-raising arm, $1 million given by parents and $1 million from ticket sales and other income.

By law, charter schools can’t require parents to pay money as a condition of enrollment, but the school has sent parents letters asking for funds. Last year, a donation of $750 per family was suggested. This summer’s letter suggested $4,000 per family. It generated $100,000 in contributions, Opacic said.

Some residents feared the letter would further alienate potential Santa Ana students. School officials emphasize, however, that the donation is optional.

In an effort to lower another barrier, school officials decided this year to simplify the lengthy application form, thinking it might be discouraging prospective applicants. They held workshops to advise students how to audition, and informed parent-teacher groups in the city.

The school also offered a free after-school “camp” during the fall and spring to introduce local children to the arts.

City and school officials agree that their inability to significantly raise the percentage of Santa Ana students stems largely from an unwillingness among many families to leave their neighborhood schools.

“I think that there could be some students who are uncertain about leaving what they know, their friends and their neighborhood,” said Jess Araujo, who serves on the board of the arts high school and was among those who helped the school move to Santa Ana.

Some students also doubt they have the talent needed, perhaps with reason. Few get the private music, dance or art lessons that many students in more affluent areas routinely enjoy. Some believe cultural differences also account for the difficulty in attracting more students from Santa Ana.

Christina Hernandez, 13, said she never thought of attending the school until a counselor at Villa Fundamental Intermediate School suggested she audition for the vocal program.

“I would not have tried,” said Christina, who begins ninth grade at the school in September. “Some of my friends just thought they didn’t have enough talent, so they didn’t go and audition.”

Visual arts student Karina Delgado, 14, said friends told her she would never fit in because she was from Santa Ana. She tried anyway.

“I figured it was a brand-new school, so nobody was going to fit in,” said Karina, who wants to be an animator or comic book artist. Her audition in visual arts rattled her so much that she sat down and cried afterward.

“I was asked to draw things I realized I didn’t know how to draw. I remember having to draw roller skates, and it was hard,” said Karina, who ultimately was accepted two years ago. “They let me in, but it was really intimidating. I was really scared.”