Democratic registration up, Republican registration down in seven North County cities

 

Democratic voter registration is up and Republican registration is down in the seven North County cities served by this newspaper, and the “no party preference” registration is down slightly in six of the seven cities.

Even Yorba Linda – one of only two county cities with a majority GOP registration as recently as last year – has recorded a drop in Republican registrants. And Yorba Linda is the only city of the seven to see a slight uptick in “no party preference” registrations.

Average increase in Democratic registrations is 3.2% and the average decline in Republican registrations is 3.5% for the seven cities, since the June 2018 primary election, based on themost recent numbers from the Orange County Registrar of Voters.

Leading the Democratic gains are Fullerton and Brea, while Brea and Yorba Linda lead the Republican losses.

Here's each city's data:

Brea: Registration increased to 29,183 from 23,382 in 2018, with Democrats increasing to 33.9% from 30%, Republicans dropping to 37.8% from 42.4% and no party preference dropping to 23.3% from 23.7%.

Buena Park: Registration increased to 43,144 from 34,437 in 2018, with Democrats increasing to 42.7% from 41.2%, Republicans dropping to 27.3% from 29.2% and no party preference dropping to 25.1% from 26%.

Fullerton: Registration increased to 77,287 from 65,084 in 2018, with Democrats increasing to 40.5% from 36.8%, Republicans dropping to 30.4% from 34.6% and no party preference dropping to 23.6% from 24.6%.

La Habra: Registration increased to 33,158 from 25,032 in 2018, with Democrats increasing to 42.1% from 38.7%, Republicans dropping to 30.2% from 33.1% and no party preference dropping to 22% from 23.8%.

La Palma: Registration increased to 9,584 from 7,831 in 2018, with Democrats increasing to 39.4% from 36.9%, Republicans dropping to 31.1% from 33.7% and no party preference dropping to 25.3% from 25.9%.

Placentia: Registration increased to 30,597 from 25,605 in 2018, with Democrats increasing to 35.7% from 31.3%, Republicans dropping to 36.4% from 40.7% and no party preference dropping to 22.5% from 23.8%.

Yorba Linda: Registration increased to 47,865 from 40,668 in 2018, with Democrats increasing to 25.5% from 22.4%, Republicans dropping to 48.2% from 52.7% and no party preference increasing to 21.3% from 21.2%.

Minor party registrations (American Independent, Green, Libertarian, Peace and Freedom and others) remained fairly consistent over the three-year period at about 5% for each city, ranging from 4.2% in La Palma to 5.7% in La Habra.

Tiny Villa Park with 4,643 registered voters is now the only county city with a majority GOP registration at 52.1% (Democrats 22.5% and no party preference 20.1%). A Republican plurality is reported in 15 of 34 county cities, including Brea, Placentia and Yorba Linda.

Orange County has nearly 1.8 million registered voters, 37.2% Democratic, 33.5% Republican and 23.8% no party preference.

Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District students score well on Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate examinations

 

Scores well above state and national results were earned by students at the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District's four comprehensive high schools on the prestigious Advanced Placement program examinations.

And a record number of International Baccalaureate evaluations with a 99% passing rate were achieved by students in the equally prestigious IB program at Valencia High School.

Passing scores – three or higher on a five-point scale for AP and four or higher on a seven-point scale for IB – can earn university credits and allow students to bypass introductory courses. Decisions on credits and class placements are made by individual universities.

A total 4,376 AP examinations were administered to freshmen through senior students at El Dorado, Esperanza, Valencia and Yorba Linda high schools, and 454 IB evaluations were posted for junior and senior students at Valencia High School during a May testing period.

Here's how the schools fared on AP tests, according to district-provided data:

El Dorado: 976 tests were administered in 21 subjects for a 74% pass rate. The six highest scoring tests for the Hawks were 3-D Art and Design, German Language and Culture, Calculus AB, 2-D Art and Design, Biology and Spanish Language and Culture.

Esperanza: 652 tests were administered in 23 subjects for a 73% pass rate. The six highest scoring tests for the Aztecs were Drawing, 2-D Art and Design, 3-D Art and Design; Biology, Statistics and Spanish Language and Culture.

Valencia: 1,676 tests were administered in 26 subjects for a 78% pass rate. The six highest scoring tests for the Tigers were 3-D Art and Design, Chemistry, Macroeconomics, Computer Science Principles, Chinese Language and Culture and Spanish Literature and Culture.

Yorba Linda: 1,072 tests were administered in 24 subjects for an 86% pass rate. The six highest scoring tests for the Mustangs were Computer Science Principles, Spanish Language and Culture, Chinese Language and Culture, German Language and Culture, 2-D Art and Design and French Language and Culture.

State and national pass rates range in the lower 60 percentiles.

The most popular test was English Language and Composition, taken by 625 students (150 at El Dorado, 102 at Esperanza, 237 at Valencia and 136 at Yorba Linda), followed by European History, taken by 343 students (106 at El Dorado, 59 at Esperanza, 104 at Valencia and 74 at Yorba Linda), and U.S. History, taken by 254 students (68 at El Dorado, 44 at Esperanza, 76 at Valencia and 66 at Yorba Linda).

Valencia's IB students were evaluated in 19 subjects, with passing scores earned by 448 out of 454 evaluations for the 99% pass rate. All 72 senior IB students earned IB's diploma, according to coordinator Fred Jenkins. Global pass rates averaged 80%.

This year, the campus has 461 IB students, 162 in 9^th grade, 130 in 10^th grade, 87 in 11^th grade and 82 in 12^th grade, according to IB counselor Mark Stanley.