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 12th 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.