Ocean View preparatory preschool program to raise tuition

Fees are going up for the Ocean View School District’s Pleasant View preparatory preschool program following a vote by the board of trustees Tuesday night.

The district has two preschools — Pleasant View at 16692 Landau Lane and Oak View at 17131 Emerald Lane, both in Huntington Beach. Oak View, which is state-funded, is free and will not be affected by the tuition increase.

Parents currently pay $350 to $700 for children to attend the preparatory preschool program at Pleasant View, depending on how long they need to be cared for. Tuition will increase next school year by $75 for the five-day full-time program and $25 for the three-day full-time program.

It will not affect the other options offered by the district.

Ocean View’s preparatory preschool, which cares for children ages 3 to 5, has not seen tuition increases since it began in 2009, district Supt. Carol Hansen said. The need to increase tuition comes from concerns over the program’s increasing encroachment on district general funds, she said.

“Our fees are not comparable to other area preschools,” Hansen said. “We haven’t increased [fees], and that’s the biggest problem.”

Both preschools eventually will be integrated into the Westmont and College View Elementary campuses as part of the district’s modernization program, which is funded by bond proceeds from Measure R, passed in 2016.

Hansen said the goal is to establish the preschools on regular school campuses so students could seamlessly transition from preschool to elementary school.

“When we decided on our modernization plan, we knew we wanted to modernize our buildings to accommodate preschool children,” Hansen said. “That means appropriate rooms, drop-offs and playgrounds.”

Westmont updates

Construction at Westmont Elementary in Westminster continues and is expected to be completed in time for the 2019-20 school year. Students currently enrolled at Westmont are attending classes at the district’s interim campus, Sun View in Huntington Beach, which closed in July.

Westmont also will be renamed; district staff proposed Westmont Visual and Performing Arts School and Westmont Visual and Performing Arts Academy.

District trustee Gina Clayton-Tarvin asked staff to add names featuring the word “view” to match the other schools in the district. She suggested Westmont View or West View.

Trustee Patricia Singer agreed, saying some parents didn’t know the campus was part of the district because it didn’t have “view” in its name.