COSTA MESA : School Plan to Ease Crowding Weighed

Raising fears among some parents that a private preschool might be closed, the Newport Mesa Unified School District is considering a plan to ease classroom overcrowding in a portion of the district.

The proposal calls for Kaiser Primary Elementary School to teach kindergarten through second grade in the 1992-93 school year. The school now has kindergarten and first-grade students.

Kaiser Upper Elementary School, now with grades 2 through 6, would drop second grade and teach grades 3 through 6 in the 1992-93 school year.

Both schools are expected to reach capacity by the 1995-96 school year. No changes, however, will be necessary for the upcoming school year, district officials say. The proposal will also require four portable classrooms to be added to Kaiser Primary over the next five years.

The plan has prompted an outcry from some citizens who fear that they will lose the services of a private preschool that leases five classrooms at Kaiser Primary from the district.

The Westcliff Early Childhood Center has been “a security” for her son, Cynthia Bury told the Newport-Mesa school board last week. Bury was one of six parents who asked the district not to force Westcliff to close.

“It seems to me its a shame and shortsighted to lose the program that is already in place,” Sue Towers said.

Sherry Loofbourrow, president of the board of education, said the trustees are committed to the needs of the students in district schools and cannot avoid reclaiming, if necessary, the rooms that Westcliff has been leasing.