Westlake-Harvard Merger Vote Delayed 30 Days : Education: The postponement is seen as a slight victory for parents of Westlake girls who oppose a union with all-boys Harvard.

A proposed merger of two prestigious private schools has been delayed a month amid a continuing revolt by parents battling to prevent Westlake School for girls from joining the Harvard School for boys.

The 30-day delay of the final vote is the first indication that the merger might come undone. Previously, Westlake administrators and trustees had responded to parents’ opposition by saying the merger was irreversible.

Westlake parents had earlier asked for a 90-day delay of the merger. The 30-day delay was announced late last month on the eve of the Westlake Board of Trustees meeting.

Parents acknowledge that they face an uphill struggle, but are moving on several fronts against the proposal to end single-sex education at Westlake, which has existed for 85 years.

They are poised to ask the state attorney general’s office to block the merger on the grounds that it was ill-conceived and hastily announced. A draft of a letter the parents are preparing to send to Atty. Gen. John Van de Kamp charges that the board has acted capriciously, without the diligence required of the board under the California Corporations Code.

The surprise announcement last month that the two schools would join and become the 1,500-student Harvard-Westlake School in 1991 triggered an intense backlash from Westlake parents that has yet to abate, despite efforts by the board and administration to downplay its strength.

The strongest support for the merger has come from Harvard parents and students. But proponents of the merger from both schools have argued that single-sex education is out-of-date. They say the merged school will attempt to continue the traditions of both schools.

The dispute has drawn in many of the city’s movers and shakers.

Philanthropists Helen and Peter Bing, the largest benefactors of Westlake and Harvard respectively, are enthusiastic backers of the merger. The Westlake Board of Trustees is dotted with the names of powerful movie industry figures such as Sam Goldwyn, Aaron Spelling and David May II of the department store family.

A number of players in the dispute have ties at both schools and in the community. Richard Close, president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn., has a daughter at Westlake and a son who graduated from Harvard last year.

Close said he fears the merger will bring more traffic to Coldwater Canyon Boulevard in neighboring Studio City, where Harvard is located. The Harvard campus will become the merged institutions’ high school campus and the junior high grades will be taught at the Holmby Hills Westlake campus.

Even with the postponement, Harvard sent a bulletin to its parents this week saying the merger is expected to go forward. Harvard Headmaster Thomas C. Hudnut said in an interview that his optimism was based on assurances from his counterpart at Westlake, Nathan Reynolds. Reynolds did not respond to several requests for comment on the delay.

According to Hudnut, Reynolds said the delay would provide more time “to bring more trustees up to speed” about the issues raised over the merger.

Debate centers on skepticism that the merger must be done speedily, before Harvard decides to go coeducational on its own. Opponents question the conclusion, apparently reached by the Westlake trustees, that the single-sex school could not compete successfully with Harvard under those circumstances.

Opponents of the merger also contend that, for girls, a single-sex school is best.

Even those not opposed to coeducation take issue with terms of the merger agreement that give Harvard a 2-1 majority on the reformulated board of trustees. “This is not a merger, it’s an acquisition,” said Westlake trustee Rod Berle.

Another festering issue is religion. Harvard, whose bylaws will govern the merged institution, is loosely affiliated with the Episcopal Church diocese of Los Angeles while Westlake is nonsectarian.

Also fueling the opposition is a memo written by the Harvard School’s administration that characterizes the boys who attend the school as “obnoxious” and says they would intimidate prospective female students. The memo was distributed to Harvard’s trustees at a private retreat in June and obtained by The Times.

The memo mentions an incident in which a Westlake student who appeared at a Harvard assembly to promote a joint theater production later complained of harassment from the boys.

Opponents of the merger have been rankled by the pro-merger forces’ failure to foresee that the decision would generate opposition. At an emotional meeting, in which parents repeatedly asked to have a voice in the merger decision, Westlake board president Alan Levy replied testily: “This is not a shareholders meeting. There are no stockholders in this corporation.”

While that is technically correct, such statements have galvanized opponents of the merger, who are not accustomed to being dismissed so summarily.

Berle said the Westlake board has hired former Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Harry Handler to evaluate whether Westlake would experience a dearth of high-quality applicants if Harvard were to go co-ed alone. A number of committees seeking parent reaction also have been formed.

Meanwhile, a fund-raising campaign is under way to demonstrate to the board that Westlake would be economically viable if students defect to Harvard.

In addition to nearly $100,000 already raised, Berle said he has pledged $1 million to cushion the impact of losing large benefactors who might withdraw if the merger collapses.

While merger opponents are far from claiming victory, Berle said they are making progress in swaying Westlake trustees.

But Hudnut predicted that, despite scrutiny, the merger would hang together because “I think the overriding benefits of it will be sufficiently clear to the people whose responsibility it is to make the deal go forward.”