PLACENTIA
NEWS-TIMES
AN EDITION OF
THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 20 1 3
MAKING SUMMER
COUNT
OCREGISTER.COM/PLACENTIA
BY LOUIS CASIANO JR. ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
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It would be hard. We’d have to just try to do it in one of our friend’s pools or community pool or something like that.” KEN ALEXANDER PLACENTIA D A D O N W H AT HE AND HIS WIFE WOULD H AV E T O D O WITHOUT CITY LESSONS FOR THEIR SON, 4.
S
ummer is finally upon us. The kids are out of school and now it’s time to think about how to get the most out of the next two months. If you are planning on staying home, the city of Placentia offers a wide variety of activities to keep you active and fit. The city has 16 public parks, two public swimming pools and several community centers. There are sports facilities, picnic areas, playgrounds and even a lake for fishing. In addition, the city offers programs for sports, theater and art. Some classes require a fee and advanced registration, which is on a first-come, firstserved basis. Participants can sign up at the Placentia Community Services Department at City Hall. Swimming lessons for children, ages 5 to 12 for all skill levels, are being held at Valencia and El Dorado high schools through Aug. 15. Classes run for two weeks and cost between $40 and $55. Ken and Michelle Alexander, who brought their 4-year-old son Jonah to the Valencia High pool for his first swim lesson,
Public recreational swim The city offers free swimming at the Gomez and Whitten community pools Monday through Thursday through Aug. 1 5. Swim times are from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Children ages 7 and younger must be accompanied by an adult in a swimsuit. Gomez is at 1 70 1 Atwood Ave. Whitten is at 900 S. Melrose St.
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Top: Instructor Jason Marganian shows Aidan Gardner how to properly paddle during a community swimming lesson at the Valencia High pool. Left: Hudson Durna, 2, gives a high-five to instructor Courtney Folsom during a baby swimming lesson at the Valencia High pool on June 1 9. Right: Krysten Gardner holds an excited 1 5-month-old Gavin while they swim together in the Valencia High pool during a family swimming lesson. PHOTOS: KEVIN LARA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
District seeks grant to help pay for building at Valencia
City budget shows deficit as employee costs rise
BY LOUIS CASIANO JR. ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
BY LOUIS CASIANO JR. ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
The Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District is applying for a state grant to help fund a new science building at Valencia High School. The classroom will accommodate the school’s Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate science programs. The building will be equipped with a chemistry lab, workstations and new equipment. Construction will begin this summer and is expected to be completed around November.
“It’s a very advanced (chemistry) lab,” said Rick Guaderrama, the district’s director of maintenance and facilities. “A lot of the vendors that we use said, ‘This is a college lab,’ so it’s really an extensive lab that will be used for the program.” Guaderrama told the board that the district anticipates receiving $300,000 in construction money from the grant. The state has new grant money available for high schools that previously was designated only for kindergarten through
sixth grade. The district would front the money needed for the project with voterapproved bonds and other funds and expects to be reimbursed by the state at a later date with the grant money. The board approved the grant application at its June 18 meeting. “This is a great program for the school,” Guaderrama said about the AP and International Baccalaureate programs. “And it’s a great building that can accommodate their program needs.”
The City Council got a financial reality check last week when it adopted a new budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. The city faces an estimated $1.5 million deficit for fiscal 2014 because of decreases in revenue and increased spending. The budget passed 4-1, with Councilman Jeremy Yamaguchi opposed. Yamaguchi said he had issues with the proposed pay increase for some city employees while reducing their number of work hours
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While there’s no budget that’s going to be perfect, I’m not going to go along with this one for a number of reasons.” J E R E M Y YA M A G U C H I THE LONE COUNCIL MEMBER TO VOTE AGAINST THE BUDGET
in order to keep them from looking for employment in neighboring cities. “There’s a number of things that I mentioned this evening that I’m really not happy to see in here,” he said of the budget during the June 18 meeting. “While there’s no budget that’s going to be perfect, I’m not going to go along
with this one for a number of reasons, but I won’t continue deliberating this evening because it appears that we’re going in a direction.” The budget includes nearly $30.43 million in recommended expenditures, of which 53 percent will go S E E B U D G E T ● PA G E 2