One-Third of Barcelona Hills' Students Headed to Other Schools

Poised to share a campus with a new charter school, in Mission Viejo will likely see its student population shrink in the fall by one-third, or 146 students.

Of the 146 students who are leaving Barcelona, there are 26 who will actually stay on campus to attend Oxford Preparatory Academy, said Sue Roche, executive director of the new charter school. The 26 were among those chosen in a .

Capistrano Unified's board of trustees unanimously approved Oxford’s charter in March, before a final location had been selected. In April, parents at Barcelona Hills learned that they would be sharing their campus with Barcelona’s K-5 program. Parents  and .

By the time the , the proposal expanded to sharing the campus with Oxford’s middle schoolers, as well.

The district had already notified parents of 34 special-needs students attending Barcelona Hills that they would be moving to Reilly Elementary, also in Mission Viejo, come September.

More than 80 of the 146 students are leaving because parents throughout the seven-city district were allowed to enroll their students in schools other than their home schools until the end of July.

The district has since granted approval for 70 students from Barcelona Hills to move to Castille Elementary in Mission Viejo and another 16 to go to Reilly, said district spokesman Marcus Walton.

Barcelona Hills had 440 students enrolled during the 2010-11 school year.

“With all the attitude, resentment and likely mass confusion to occur at Barcelona this fall, we felt best for our child to accept Reilly,” said Pat DeLorenzo, a parent of a fourth-grade, special-needs student who is making her fourth school change in Capo Unified.

On Monday night, the school board finalized the facilities-use agreement with Oxford. The agreement’s wording was slightly changed in some areas but is substantively of the same design as approved in June.

Oxford students will meet in classrooms 10-14, as well as portables 12-19 and the YMCA doublewide portable on the Barcelona campus. Barcelona students will meet in Rooms 1-8b, flanked by Oxford’s programs on either side.

Julie Hatchel, assistant superintendent of education services, said the district will start deciding how many teachers should staff the smaller version of Barcelona in mid-August. However, adjustments are likely to be made even after school begins in September.