The closing ceremony was a symbolic closure only, and a pyrrhic victory for Dr. Fish and the current four Board members who reversed themselves under pressure, never listening to reason from their experienced counterpart, Dr. Gilbert; and never listening to their own hearts on what was right for the greater District.
Hard work could see O’Neill rise again as a leading charter school serving all the Saddleback Valley, but this Board again refused to listen, bent on the wreckage they blindly sought to cause our schools and our neighborhoods. They also certainly had no sense of the history and power of the Mission Viejo Master plan which brought great education and great families seeking award winning schools like O’Neill.
Now it remains to be seen if the City Council will answer the call to defend the school system of Mission Viejo, or hand off the beacon of greatness built and achieved here, to be dimmed by feeding the greater Saddleback Valley from the Average Daily Attendance funds of the children of our city.
We are not strapped with heavy Mello Roos fees, and the surrounding communities should not be pulling away our students and shutting our schools because their tax base and education system is inadequate, mismanaged, and overall ill-conceived – made worse by the management of the current administration and majority on the Saddleback School Board. Will this city council step up and act to protect our schools and our neighborhoods?
What could be a clearer time to act to save Mission Viejo Schools than when a Board refuses to serve the wishes or needs of the citizens and closes a top performing historic neighborhood school in our first neighborhood? This council better act strongly, and fast. Meanwhile plans are underway to save the school and the neighborhood. Go to ONeillCharterSchool.org and see how you can help.
Lets hope the legacy of this City Council is not the death of our school system and the destruction of the neighborhoods we share and love. Meanwhile, get involved and take action and don’t forget the actions of this Board of Ed at election time.
Bert Bennett
.jpg)
