With the dog days of summer quickly dwindling, local school districts are gearing up for fall and the start of the 2008-2009 school year.

The Orcutt Union School District is preparing to start the academic year with the grand opening of its long-anticipated charter school, a stricter dress code at one junior high school, and significant changes in student transportation districtwide.

Valley Christian Academy has undergone some staffing changes since students left campus in June, and Guadalupe students will see major changes in their remodeled schools.

However, for the most part it will be business as usual at St. Joseph High School and in the Santa Maria-Bonita, Santa Maria Joint Union High School and Lucia Mar Unified School Districts.

Classes in the majority of local districts start the week of Aug. 18, though Lucia Mar won’t begin classes until Aug. 25 and Valley Christian students don’t return to school until Sept. 2, the day after Labor day.

“We’re looking forward to a great new year,” Orcutt Superintendent Sharon McHolland said. “We’re excited about the charter opening and we’re excited about another new year.”

The official launch of Orcutt Academy takes place Aug. 20, the first day of the school year for the district, though seventh-grade students at Lakeview and Orcutt Junior High Schools come back a day earlier, Aug. 19.

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Orcutt Academy will offer research-based education for kids in kindergarten through 12th grade, earning it the added distinction of being the district’s first high school.

The high school curriculum will include both a vocational track and a traditional college-preparatory track. The college-prep track comes complete with International Baccalaureate classes that count toward college credits.

The lower-division school, grades K-8, will be housed at the former Casmalia School District's only campus, Winifred Wollam School.

In July, the Orcutt district absorbed the 14-student Casmalia district, and, by extension, Wollam School.

In other district news, Lakeview Junior High School students will have to adhere to a new, stricter, dress code.

From now on, girls must keep their shoulders covered, not show any cleavage, and wear skirts of acceptable length.

But mini-skirts and low-cut tops aren’t the only things you won’t see at Lakeview anymore — school officials have also banned public displays of affection, popularly known as “PDAs.”

Though the new dress code involves only Lakeview students, new limits for the district’s transportation boundaries and the elimination or streamlining of several bus routes stands to have a more far-reaching effect.

Elementary students living within one mile of school are no longer eligible for busing; neither are junior high students living within 1.5 miles of school.

The exceptions are special education students and students who must cross Highway 35 or Santa Maria Way.

District officials decided to limit the district’s transportation boundaries as a cost-saving measure in response to a statewide budget crisis that stands to leave California’s schools $4 billion in the hole.

In another attempt to save money, district officials also eliminated or moved several bus stops to streamline the routes, a technique known as “corridor busing.”

“It’s kind of what the Santa Maria (city) buses do. They stay on the main road. They don’t go into neighborhoods to get passengers,” which costs both time and fuel, Rita Jermyn said of corridor busing.

Jermyn is the Orcutt district’s director of maintenance and operations and transportation.

Bus schedules should be ready by the end of the week, she added, and parents can contact their school to find out pick-up times and other pertinent information.

Meanwhile, at Valley Christian Academy, long-time head secretary Lena Duek and her husband, Wayne, a history teacher at the school, announced their decision to move to Colorado, leaving Florida couple John and Julie O’Donnell to take their place.

Julie O’Donnell will take over for Lena Duek, while John O’Donnell will take over for Wayne Duek.

As a bonus, Valley Christian decided to take advantage of John O’Donnell’s theater background by incorporating some drama classes into its curriculum for him to teach.

“They bring a lot of energy and enthusiasm,” Principal Chuck Mason said of the couple. “They’re going to be a lot of fun to work with.”

When Guadalupe students return to school Aug. 20, they’ll find that not much has changed in the way of district and school policies, though they may have to look twice to be sure they’re in the right place. Both of the district’s two campuses, Mary Buren School and Kermit McKenzie Junior High School, have undergone major facelifts over the summer.

Meanwhile, it’s back to work on Aug. 21 for students in the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District.

District officials said parents needing to register their children should contact either the district office or their children’s school of attendance.

Ninth-graders at St. Joseph High School start the year Aug. 18, and the rest of the student body will join them the next day.

In 2007-2008, the school introduced new technology to help parents keep abreast of their students’ grades and general academic progress.

Before the start of the year, “new parents (should) go online to the school’s Web site and they can set up their ‘parent connect,’” Director of Development Fr. Ed Jalbert said, adding that the school has planned a parent orientation for Aug. 27 to further assist first-time St. Joseph’s parents.

The school’s Web address is www.sjhsknights.com.

Santa Maria-Bonita spokesman Maggie White said school starts Aug. 18, and parents whose students take the school bus should contact the district transportation office at 361-8260 to find out about any changes in bus stop locations.

The district plans to publish bus schedules in local newspapers beginning Aug. 14.

All schools in the district will stay open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Aug. 7 and 8 so parents can return emergency contact cards and applications for free and reduced-price meals.

Though all Santa Maria-Bonita students can eat breakfast and lunch in the cafeteria every day, free of charge, White said, parents must still return the meal application to school.

In addition, “parents who have not registered their kindergarten-age children for school ... should do so as soon as possible,” White said, adding that school offices will be open weekdays beginning Monday for registration and other needs.

Children who are 5 years old on or before Dec. 2 are eligible for kindergarten.

To register, parents must visit a nearby elementary school and provide proof of residence, legal proof of their child’s age and the child’s complete immunization records.

Natalie Ragus can be reached at 347-4580 or nragus@santamariatimes.com.

August 2, 2008