PLACENTIA : Name Change for District Considered

School officials have asked for a study on the feasibility of changing Placentia Unified School District’s name. Proponents say it would help unite the district, which merged with the Yorba Linda School District in 1988, with other communities.

Officials say a new law gives the school board the power to change the district’s name.

But board members are forbidden to initiate such a drive.

Even before the merger, some residents had sought unsuccessfully to incorporate Yorba or Linda into the name because a large share of the student population comes from Yorba Linda. The district also serves parts of Fullerton, Anaheim and Brea.

“There are people who feel very strongly about keeping (the current name), because it’s been that way for years,” said Supt. James O. Fleming. “Then there are others who say we should do it. Yorba Linda now makes up a majority of students in our district.”

The new law, signed by the governor in September, gives school boards, rather than the County Board of Supervisors, the authority to approve name changes.

But school boards can act on such a proposal only if a petition is submitted with the signatures of 15 qualified voters. Changing the name would cost about $30,000, said Kim Stallings, the assistant superintendent for administrative services.

The cost includes painting the name on about 70 buses and erecting new signs, although not all signs would have to be changed immediately, he said.