High schools in Placentia-Yorba Linda district increase pass rates on Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate examinations

Scores achieved on university-level Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate examinations by students at the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District's four comprehensive high schools jumped to new heights again this year.

Not only did the district's Advanced Placement pass rate increase to a four-year high of 84.81%, but the number of individual exams administered reached an all-time district high of 4,260 in a record total of 31 subject areas.

And for the second-straight year, the district was named to the Advanced Placement District Honor Roll, due to increased participation in and access to Advanced Placement coursework and increasing or maintaining the percentage of students who pass the exams.

Passing is considered to be a score of “3” or higher on a five-point scale. Passing scores can earn university-level credits and allow students to bypass introductory courses, with decisions on credit and placement made by individual universities. Most tests run three hours in length.

This year's honor roll distinction was granted to just 373 school districts in the United States and Canada, including only 25 districts in California and five in Orange County.

The 4,260 exams were administered during a two-week period in May, with make-ups given later for the many students who had different tests scheduled at the same time. The number of tests increased from 4,088 last year and 4,070 the year before. Each exam costs $92, with lower rates based on family income.

Here's how the four high schools fared:

--El Dorado: 880 tests were administered in 24 subjects, with the Hawk pass rate increasing to 80.23% from 79.42% for 861 tests last year.

--Esperanza: 726 tests were administered in 26 subjects, with the Aztec pass rate increasing to 81.54% from 80.23% for 703 tests last year.

--Valencia: 1,652 tests were administered in 28 subjects, with the Tiger pass rate dipping a bit to 86.74% from 87.85% for 1,531 tests last year.

--Yorba Linda: 1,002 tests were administered in 27 subjects, with the Mustang pass rate increasing to 91.02% from 88.22% for 992 tests last year.

Some schools offer AP classes beginning in the freshman year. For example, at Valencia, 143 mostly ninth grade students took the Computer Science Principles exam, with a 95.8% pass rate, and 54 mostly ninth grade students took the Human Geography exam, with a 96.3% pass rate.

The most popular exam was English Language and Composition, administered to mostly juniors: 205 at Valencia, 135 at Yorba Linda, 116 at El Dorado and 107 at Esperanza.

The International Baccalaureate program at Valencia administered 468 exams in 22 subjects with a 94.23% pass rate, up from 90.2% in 20 subjects last year. Passing on IB exams is “4” or better on a seven-point scale.

Coordinator Fred Jenkins noted the school had 73 students earn the full IB diploma this year, with 75 expected in 2020 and 95 for 2021. The diploma pass rate was 96%.

Yorba Linda, Placentia-Yorba Linda school district express confidence in top management with raises

Yorba Linda City Council members and Placentia-Yorba Linda school district trustees have expressed confidence in the top-level managers they've hired to helm municipal operations and K-12 education by granting them 2.5 percent salary increases.

Unanimous votes by the council and school board were taken at public meetings earlier this month after the governing bodies concluded formal evaluations during closed-door sessions.

City Manager Mark Pulone's annual salary was increased to $253,224 starting Oct. 1. Pulone was hired in July of 2013, and last year, he was given a five-year contract extension to Oct. 1, 2023. He oversees a $38 million operating budget and some150 full- and part-time employees.

Schools superintendent Greg Plutko's annual salary was increased to $325,167 starting July 1. He was hired in July of 2016, and his contract has been extended through June 30, 2023. He oversees a $288 million all-funds budget and some 2,000 full-time equivalent employees.

Contracts for Plutko's top assistants were extended through June 30, 2022: Candy Plahy, deputy superintendent for educational services; David Giordano, assistant superintendent for business services; and Rick Lopez, assistant superintendent for human resources.

Salary increases for managers usually will be the same as for the district's certificated and classified employees, which currently are being negotiated between the unions and district.

Tuesday is the first day of school for some 25,000 students at 34 Placentia-Yorba Linda campuses, with students and teachers off Friday and Monday for the Labor Day weekend.

Teachers returned today for three days of meetings and lesson and classroom preparation.

Eighty certificated staff left the district last year: 48 retirements (among them 22 elementary, 19 high school and two middle school teachers) and 32 resignations. Trustees approved hiring 37 replacements at an Aug. 13 meeting.

Trustees also approved agreements with Yorba Linda and Placentia to keep school resource officers on high school campuses for the new school year as part of the district's safe school initiatives.

The arrangement with Yorba Linda provides an officer each day at Yorba Linda High School. The city and district share the cost, with the district paying about $110,000.

The agreement with Placentia provides two officers, one each day at El Dorado and Valencia high schools. The city and district share the cost, with the district paying about $246,000.

The district expects the officers “to positively impact student, staff and parental perceptions of school safety,” stated a report to trustees from Executive Director Richard McAlindin.

And interestingly, since July 1, the district already has received $251,245 in gifts, mainly cash from PTA fundraisers and donations from individuals and businesses, as well as such goods as computer, sports and musical equipment.

Last year's haul was $827,580.

Franchise fees, hotel taxes, paperless billing: all play a role in Yorba Linda governmental revenues

Franchise fees, transit occupancy taxes and paperless billing normally fly under the radar, but each plays a role in raising money to pay for services provided by local government agencies.

Cities in most states charge utilities franchise fees for placing infrastructure in public rights-of-way, including electric power lines, natural gas and water pipelines and cable TV transmission lines. Refuse pick-up companies often pay the fees for using public roads for trash pickup.

In Yorba Linda, the city expects to collect a bit more than $2 million in such fees for the fiscal year that began July 1 and ends June 30, 2020, increasing by close to $50,000 the next year.

Of course, the utilities just collect the fees from their customers and pass them on to the city, while noting the franchise fee amount on the monthly bills provided to customers by email or through the postal service.

While the Yorba Linda fees pale in terms of the funds raised through property and sales taxes – at $20.7 million and $7.7 million this fiscal year – the revenue nearly matches the dollars raised by building and engineering permits and fees, the city's third-largest income source.

Here's what the city anticipates collecting this fiscal year: $796,775 from Spectrum cable TV, $619,268 from Southern California Edison, $448,000 from Republic Services waste disposal and $121,310 from Southern California Gas Company.

The Yorba Linda Water District doesn't pay a franchise fee, since it is a separate government agency, but the private Golden State Water Company, serving about 2,000 customers in 400 acres of the city's Locke Ranch region near Fairmont Boulevard, will pay $13,688.

Transit occupancy taxes, also referred to as hotel occupancy taxes, come from the two hotels located on Oakcrest Circle in Savi Ranch. These companies pass on the 10 percent tax to the city on a quarterly basis for stays of less than 30 days.

The 111-room Ayres Suites is expected to pay $332,000 this fiscal year, while the 117-room Extended Stay will pay about $179,000. The city had anticipated collecting close to $19,000 from short-term rentals of homes or rooms in residential areas.

But the City Council has banned the rentals, which end in January for current operators.

Both government agencies and private companies promote paperless billing to eliminate paper waste, but the practice also saves the agencies and companies a bundle of money.

A recent report presented to the five elected directors of the Yorba Linda Water District, which bills nearly 25,000 customers on a monthly basis, indicates the savings involved.

The annual cost to bill 17,175 customers by mail is $115,633, while the yearly cost to send an electronic bill to 7,535 customers is $2,984. If the mail customers converted to paperless bills,

savings would total an annual $109,000.

Paper bills cost 56 cents in postage, paper and other costs; electronic bills cost 3.3 cents.

Latest state-required Yorba Linda Water District report lists contaminant levels in water supply

State law requires water agencies with more than 10,000 service connections to produce a report every three years if any water quality measurements exceed specific “public health goal” levels or “maximum contaminant level” goals.

Public health goal levels are set by the state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment and maximum contaminant level goals by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. They're not enforceable, and agencies aren't required to take action to meet them.

The elected directors of the Yorba Linda Water District, with some 25,000 connections in Yorba Linda and parts of Placentia, Brea and Anaheim, reviewed the 12-page 2019 report for 2016-2018 at a July 23 meeting.

According to the report, the district “is in full compliance with all state and federal drinking water standards,” and the district's “top priority is protecting public health.”

The report notes four contaminants above public health goal levels or maximum contaminant level goals – arsenic, copper, gross alpha and uranium – but all four are well below maximum contaminant levels.

Arsenic in one district well “slightly exceeds” the 10 parts per billion maximum contaminant level at 10.5 parts per billion over a three-year average. When operating, the well's water is blended with water from other wells under a plan approved by a state agency.

The result is an arsenic level of about 3.1 parts per billion, which is above the public health goal level of 0.004 parts per billion but below the enforceable maximum contaminant level.

Estimated cost to meet the public health goal level is $10.7 million, adding $35.55 to monthly bills, the report states.

Copper is not found in the district's well or imported water but usually results from a chemical reaction of the district's water with household plumbing fixtures containing copper or brass.

The district tests representative water taps for copper every three years, with 2018 results showing 90 percent of samples taken from inside homes at 0.5 milligrams per liter, above the 0.3 milligrams per liter public health goal but below the 1.3 milligrams per liter action level.

Gross alpha is the total of radionuclides (natural occurring radium, radon, uranium and thorium). The federal maximum contaminant level goal is 0, with the state level set at 15 pico-Curies per liter. The district's average is 2.6 pico-Curies per liter.

Uranium is naturally occurring or results from runoff from areas with mining operations. The public health goal level is 0.43 pico-Curies per liter, with a maximum contaminant level of 20 pico-Curies per liter. The district's average is 8.0 pico-Curies per liter.

Estimated cost to meet the public health goal level is $13.1 million, adding $43.34 to monthly bills, the report states.

The report notes: “The effectiveness of the treatment processes to provide any significant reduction in contaminant levels at already low values is uncertain.”

Restoration moves ahead for historic Yorba Linda Craftsman-style residence--1918 Trueblood home

Restoration of one of Yorba Linda's best-known historical structures – the Trueblood house near the intersection of Imperial Highway and Lemon Drive southeast of the post office – is moving forward, with an “optimistic” completion date in the first quarter of 2020.

And negotiations are underway for the Chamber of Commerce to lease the 1,167-square-foot, city-owned Aeroplane Craftsman-style residence on a 7,362-square-foot lot as a headquarters facility for one full-time and three part-time employees.

The long-awaited rehabilitation project for the 4801 Park Avenue home is part of a larger 48-unit senior housing development on a 2.4-acre site one-half mile north, at the intersection of Lakeview Avenue and Altrudy Lane.

The City Council “conditioned the sale and development of the Altrudy property to require that the Trueblood house be reconstructed concurrently for a public use benefit,” according to a

report presented to the Planning Commission by Associate Planner Jamie Smith last month.

An affordable housing agreement with the Orange Housing Development Corporation and C & C Development to build the senior units and rehabilitate the Trueblood house was approved by the council in December 2018.

The Planning Commission approved the design review and a use permit with 67 conditions for the Trueblood house restoration at a July 10 meeting on a 4-0 vote.

The project involves a complete rehabilitation of the exterior and an interior conversion into office uses, including removal of the second floor to increase ceiling height for a lobby, four offices, conference and break rooms and a restroom. Five parking spaces will be provided.

The exterior will exhibit such traditional Aeroplane Craftsman-style features as wide, horizontal roof forms, multiple roof planes, wood panel facades, brick accents, exposed rafters and beams and tapered columns supporting the roof, with white paint and light blue/gray trim.

The existing tall palm trees will be removed, with new landscaping consisting of drought-tolerant Mediterranean and Southern California plantings, with arid accents and grasses placed along the slope fronting Lemon Drive.

First owners of the home built in 1918 were H. E. and Ada Trueblood. Later occupants were the Luther Janeways, who operated a Main Street grocery store, and a couple of businesses, including the popular Calico House fabric and craft store.

The home has been vacant for the past 15 years and has suffered significant deterioration, despite the city's best efforts to “mothball” the structure. Planning commissioners were told, “It will require significant improvements to provide a serviceable building.”

In an earlier report to the council, construction costs were estimated at a bit more than $1 million, with the city footing $545,000 from developer impact fees. The city's now-defunct Redevelopment Agency bought the home from the last private owner in 2010 for $385,000.