Buena Park School District

Three candidates are running for a vacant seat on the board of the Buena Park School District in the Nov. 3 election. The unexpired term was held by Trustee Charles M. Menzies, who resigned earlier this year. Board President Barbara Fagins and Trustee Lloyd G. Davis were not challenged and therefore will assume new terms automatically. Robert Flewelling Age: 70. Occupation: Retired educational administrator and researcher.

A Buena Park mother has filed a lawsuit against the local school district alleging that her blind son was injured after a school bus driver dropped the kindergartner off at a street stop with no supervision. Allen Collins suffered severe cuts on his face when he ran or was pushed into a sagging chain-link fence near the bus stop April 6, said Patrick Saboorian, the family's attorney. He said that the child, now 7, was alone for two or three minutes before his mother arrived to pick him up.

Faced with a $150,000 deficit, the Buena Park School District Board of Trustees this week adopted its 1993-94 budget and plans to use reserves to cover the projected shortfall. Supt. Jack Townsend said the district's general fund budget for the 1993-94 fiscal year is $18.3 million, while expenditures are an estimated $18.5 million.

A Buena Park woman has sued the local school district, alleging that her vision-impaired son, then a kindergartner, was injured after a school bus driver dropped him off at a stop with no supervision. Allen Collins suffered severe cuts to his face when he ran or was pushed into a sagging chain-link fence near the school bus stop in the 5800 block of Burnham Avenue on April 6, said Patrick Saboorian, the family's attorney. "He could not see the fence," Saboorian said Friday.

Before- and after-school child care will be available to all students in the Buena Park School District beginning in September. In a unanimous decision, the governing board agreed this week to extend the program to both Carl E. Gilbert Elementary and Charles G. Emery Elementary, the two remaining schools without day care. "It is not even a luxury any more. It is a necessity," said Ellen Morrison, the district's child care coordinator.

Buena Park School District officials have filed a lawsuit against the parents of eight students who are accused of vandalizing two campuses with graffiti, causing more than $13,000 in damage. The students, all boys ages 10 through 15, are accused of spray-painting doors, walls and drinking fountains and using glass cutters to etch monikers on windows at Arthur F. Corey Elementary School, the lawsuit alleges.

Buena Park School District Trustee Lloyd Davis resigned last week, citing personal reasons. Davis, whose term ends Dec. 1, joined the school board in 1971. The board will seek someone to finish out Davis' term.

Former Buena Park School District trustee Barbara Fagins has agreed to fill a vacant school board position. Fagins, who served on the elected five-member board from 1988 to 1996, will fill the seat of trustee Lloyd G. Davis, who retired in late May for personal reasons. Fagins will stay in the position until Davis' term ends in December. Davis' seat will be up for election in November.

The good news hit Carl E. Gilbert Elementary a couple days after school let out, so Monday's celebration was muted. But Principal Jack Hay was decidedly excited that his school's standardized test scores are up--way up. "My first reaction was, 'Whoa, baby!' " Hay said. The cause of his exuberance? The Buena Park school posted double-digit percentile jumps in 15 of the 20 subjects and grade levels tested on the state's high-stakes standardized test.

The Buena Park School District gave supporters of a private day-care center at Beatty Elementary School a glimmer of hope when board members voted to reconsider canceling the preschool's lease during a recent meeting. The district also voted to reconsider another March decision to transfer more than 100 students from Beatty to make room for an expected increase in students next year.

A sharply divided Buena Park school board voted 3 to 2 Monday to cancel a contract with a private day-care center that is leasing four classrooms at Gordon H. Beatty Elementary School. A facilities planning committee recently reported that the school would need more classrooms to accommodate expected enrollment growth in the fall. As part of the solution, the board also voted to return transfer students from other schools and other districts to their neighborhood campuses.