District disappointed in loss of arts school

Danette Goulet

COSTA MESA -- School officials said they were saddened, but most were not

surprised by the Orange County High School of the Arts’ decision to move

to Santa Ana instead of Estancia High School.

“I think it’s been a long process with them to explore the best place for

them to be,” said Tom Antal, principal of Estancia. “I have talked with

their executive director, Ralph Opacic, and he let me know up front that

the best situation for him was a lot a freedom.”

An offer from Santa Ana to grant the arts school charter status will

provide that freedom.

For the past 12 years, the nationally recognized arts school has operated

out of Los Alamitos High School. Last fall, the school was forced to

begin the search for a new home after a conflict arose between the city

of Los Alamitos and the Los Alamitos Unified School District.

The top two contenders in the search were the city of Santa Ana and the

Newport-Mesa Unified School District, specifically Estancia High.

After studying both options, officials at the arts school plan to

announce their move to Santa Ana at a press conference Friday.

The school will be located in three buildings in midtown Santa Ana, where

it will have room to expand its current enrollment of 425 students.

Pauline Maranian, a drama instructor at Estancia, said the show will go

on -- it will be business as usual.

“Honestly, whether [the school] came or not, it wouldn’t have changed my

work style,” she said. “I think it would have been interesting. I think

it would have changed the dynamics and created more of an arts awareness

in the community.”

Officials at the district level were more surprised by the news than

Estancia administrators.

“We were talking up until a couple days ago,” said school board member

Martha Fluor. “I know Santa Ana was throwing a lot of money at them, but

the question was where they were going to put them in the interim.”

Unfortunately for Newport-Mesa, Santa Ana came up with the space and $1.7

million to subsidize the school during the firstthree years, if

necessary.

Antal, who also serves as chairman for the Newport-Mesa performing arts

committee, said the school will continue to look for ways to enrich the

arts in the district.

“What we’re going to do now is assess the specific needs here,” he said.

“I will do all I can to see that drama program flourish and to increase

the size of the band.”