James Tarwater

A series of budget cuts approved by the Ocean View School District this week will not result in teacher layoffs, but plans to enhance educational offerings and improve district facilities have been dashed. Ocean View, which serves 9,000 students in kindergarten through eighth grade, was faced with a $1.8-million budget problem resulting from the collapse of the Orange County investment pool.

A community committee has given its support to Ocean View School District's proposal to lease the closed Rancho View Elementary School site for commercial development. The committee of 10 parents and one teacher reported that reopening the school was not a viable option based on its location and condition, and that the district has enough other space to accommodate projected enrollment growth. Besides Rancho View, the district has seven other closed schools. Supt. James R.

Setting the stage for selling a crucial piece of property to the state for inclusion in the environmentally sensitive Bolsa Chica Mesa, the Ocean View School District has declared 15 acres of the mesa it owns as surplus property. The school district, which has owned the land since 1966, had anticipated building an elementary school to accommodate a large development proposed for the mesa area.

There was no electricity Thursday in teacher Vongin Lipock's first-grade classroom at Westmont Elementary. Fran Garland's third-grade class at Valley View didn't have power either, nor did classes on eight other Ocean View School District campuses. On a sweltering first day of school, 23 portable classrooms in this coastal district were without air conditioners, fans or lights. The reason is that the portables arrived last month, much sooner than the expected October delivery date.

State Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach) was among those honored for fighting a growing scourge--child abuse--at a dinner presented by the Child Abuse Council of Orange County. The council's annual Community Advocacy Dinner attracted 280 people to Le Meridien hotel in Newport Beach Thursday. About $7,000 was raised from the $50-per-person benefit, with proceeds going to the council's Life Enrichment Assistance Program (LEAP).

A proposal to seek a commercial development for the closed Crest View School site drew a crowd of 100 angry residents to the Ocean View School District board meeting this week to protest the plan. "We do not want any commercial development there whatsoever," said Debbie Josephson, who has lived in the community for 10 years. "It would be an encroachment of our neighborhood and bring down the value of our neighborhood."

Mesa View Middle School Principal Steven Wade Johnson died Thursday at his Tustin home, apparently of a heart attack. He was 44. Johnson was hired by Ocean View School District in August 1993 as principal of Mesa View. A year later, he assumed additional duties as the district's director of computer education. District officials said that Johnson, who had spent more than 20 years in education, loved his job and was respected by his peers and his students.

A 6-year-old boy at the center of an ongoing battle over the inclusion of special education students in mainstream classes has been assigned a home school teacher until a stalemate over his permanent school placement ends. A teacher with the Ocean View School District began working with Jimmy Peters at home Monday, Supt. James R. Tarwater said. Discussions with the boy's father are continuing in an effort to find Jimmy a permanent class.

A Huntington Beach elementary school principal and her husband have sued a school board member, saying the trustee spread false rumors accusing her of having sex with the district superintendent. The suit by Roni Ellis, principal of Harbour View Elementary School, and her husband, David, the Long Beach fire chief, is the latest controversy to embroil the Ocean View School District. In addition to suing board member Barbara Boskovich, the Ellises named the board of trustees and Supt.