Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District

The assistant superintendent of instructional services for the Saddleback Valley Unified School District is leaving to take the top post at the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District. Ann N. Chlebicki, 44, will start her new job Oct. 10. She accepted the position earlier this month. The Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District has 8,600 students. Chlebicki will earn $114,000 annually under a three-year contract unanimously approved by the board Sept. 7.

Supporters of a breakaway charter school in the high-achieving Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District have dropped the effort, at least for now. The proposed charter, which some parents said would have provided an alternative to the standardized-testing culture of district schools, bitterly divided the wealthy enclave.

The Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy will receive a $5,000 grant for an elementary school curriculum, federal officials announced. The grant, awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the National Environmental Education Act, will enable the conservancy to train teachers and parent volunteers in the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District to adapt lessons on local habitats. The conservancy is required to raise matching funds.

Public schools on the Palos Verdes Peninsula are among the state's highest achieving, and two of the wealthy enclave's high schools are ranked in the nation's top 100. But to a small band of parents, that's not enough.

After years of consideration, Palos Verdes Estates will hand over $1.47 million to the local school district to maintain open land at Malaga Cove School. The school, which belongs to the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District, has been closed as a public facility but is rented to two private schools. As part of the agreement approved on a 3-2 City Council vote this week, the school will keep 7.65 acres or about 50% of the campus free of buildings.

The Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District will add instrumental music to its grade school curriculum next week for the first time in six years. Beginning Tuesday, fifth-grade students at all Peninsula schools will be able to take brass and woodwind lessons during a 50-minute after-school program. Music lessons will cost $159 per semester. Over the years, budget cutbacks have forced the district to eliminate many programs, including music.

The Peninsula Education Foundation has pledged to raise $700,000 for the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District in an attempt to provide funding for several programs and staff members that the district cannot afford. Founded in response to state budget cuts in 1980, the foundation has pumped more than $5 million into the district's schools. The foundation plans to continue its financial support of math, writing and teaching aides, library staff, technology lab staff and training.

After a monthlong investigation, state officials have concluded that the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District is still not providing all the special services needed by a severely handicapped girl who is attending a regular kindergarten classroom.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge Tuesday turned down a request for a preliminary injunction that would have barred the planned closure of Miraleste High School by the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District. But Judge Miriam A. Vogel also ruled that the district must consider the environmental effect of the closure on the east side of the peninsula, where a group of parents is fighting to keep Miraleste open beyond June while they attempt to form a separate school system.

The Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District has decided to appeal a ruling ordering it to enroll a 6-year-old girl, paralyzed from the neck down, in a regular kindergarten class. School board members, meeting in special session, voted unanimously Wednesday to challenge in federal court a Sept. 11 order by a state hearing officer to place Stephanie Stratford in a regular class at Rancho Vista School.

Nearly popping out of a mural with his fiery red shirt and stern stare, Juan Jose Dominguez surveys a 1784 land grant while eyeing a roomful of South Bay artifacts. By his expression, it's as if the Spanish soldier knows about the fight between two institutions for the space in which he stands.

The Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy will receive a $5,000 grant for an elementary school curriculum, federal officials announced. The grant, awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the National Environmental Education Act, will enable the conservancy to train teachers and parent volunteers in the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District to adapt lessons on local habitats. The conservancy is required to raise matching funds.

The state-mandated class size reduction program has left the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District in need of more space, so district officials have decided to open more classrooms at the closed Miraleste Elementary School. Closed in 1990 because of a decrease in enrollment, the district reopened three classrooms at Miraleste last year to alleviate overcrowding brought on by class size reductions. The district also placed two kindergarten classes on the campus this past fall.

In an attempt to inform residents about the future needs of the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District, the superintendent will hold a series of community forums throughout the month. Increased enrollment and reduced funds are looming in the district, leading officials to seek views from residents about which programs are most important.

The Peninsula Education Foundation has pledged to raise $700,000 for the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District in an attempt to provide funding for several programs and staff members that the district cannot afford. Founded in response to state budget cuts in 1980, the foundation has pumped more than $5 million into the district's schools. The foundation plans to continue its financial support of math, writing and teaching aides, library staff, technology lab staff and training.

The Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District has planned cutbacks at its 2-year-old adult school beginning this fall, a move district officials say is necessary to keep the program afloat. The district has slashed its budget from $290,000 for the 1996-97 school year to $212,000 in the upcoming year--a 27% reduction.

After years of consideration, Palos Verdes Estates will hand over $1.47 million to the local school district to maintain open land at Malaga Cove School. The school, which belongs to the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District, has been closed as a public facility but is rented to two private schools. As part of the agreement approved on a 3-2 City Council vote last week, the school will keep 7.65 acres or about 50% of the campus free of buildings.