AP, IB scores set records in Placentia-Yorba Linda schools; Mello-Roos tax areas hit mid-mark point

Another record year for hundreds of Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate students at Placentia-Yorba Linda public high schools and a milestone of sorts for property owners who pay Mello-Roos taxes to the school district are topics for this week's column.

First, a highest-ever number of 3,890 Advanced Placement examinations in 25 subject areas were administered to 9th through 12^th grade students at the four comprehensive high schools in the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District in May.

And the just-released results show passing scores of three or higher on a five-point scale were achieved by 83 percent of the students district-wide. Individual universities establish their own criteria for awarding credits for AP classes taken at the nation's high schools.

The number of three-hour examinations administered and rounded-off pass percentages at district campuses were 707 and 75 percent at El Dorado; 646 and 80 percent at Esperanza; 1,469 and 86 percent at Valencia; and 1,068 and 87 percent at Yorba Linda.

California's statewide pass rates for some 370,000 tests hover at about 64 percent, while the global pass rates for close to 4.5 million exams are about 61 percent on a year-to-year basis.

The International Baccalaureate program at Valencia High School also reported stellar results on 471 examinations administered in 19 subject areas, coordinator Fred Jenkins noted. The school's pass rate was 96 percent, based on scores of four or higher on a seven-point scale.

Sixty-four students earned the rigorous IB full diploma, up from 41 granted last year. The IB program has awarded about 1.3 million full diplomas in some 140 countries since 1968.

Second, property owners in Yorba Linda's only Mello-Roos taxing area – formally called a Community Facilities District – will reach the halfway point when they pay this fiscal year's property tax bills, with only 15 more years to pay off a $5.5 million bond sale from 2002.

The extra cash goes to the Placentia-Yorba Linda school district, which sold the bonds to raise dollars for capital projects needed to provide facilities for new enrollment generated by residential housing construction. Trustees approved this year's special taxes July 12.

The lone taxing district consists of 293 Pulte homes located on the north and south sides of Bastanchury Road, west of Fairmont Boulevard. Owners pay additional taxes, ranging from

$1,603 to $2,613 yearly, based on square footage, for an annual total of just over $562,000.

A 22-page agreement signed with Pulte in 2002 set the annual tax at $3.50 per square foot for each residence.

The state has allowed Mello-Roos districts to fund public improvements with five or more years of useful life since 1982 to help replace tax losses due to Proposition 13 passing in 1978. A two-thirds vote is needed to form a district, but most are established when the property is owned by the developer.