Grand Jury Urged to Intervene on Aliso School Closing

Tuesday was supposed to be the last day of school ever at Aliso Elementary, but parents opposed to the shutdown aren't giving up.

In a last-ditch effort to keep the campus open, they appealed to the Orange County Grand Jury today, filing a 126-page report.

After "exhausting all of the other channels'' to stop the June 30 closure, the parents turned to the grand jury in hopes it would investigate, parent Rob Lange told the Lake Forest City Council at its Tuesday night meeting.

"We don’t have the resources to fight an entity like the Saddleback Valley School District,'' Lange said. "We exhausted all the possibilities. We did everything we were supposed to do."

On May 10, the Saddleback Valley Unified School District Board of Education members voted to shut down the 40-year-old school, in an attempt to save money.

District officials want to cut about $10 million from the 2011-2012 school year budget and a consulting firm said school closings would save about $400,000 to $500,000.

"They say they're hurting for money, but we've asked them to document it,'' Lange said of school officials.

So far, the parents have appealed for help from the Lake Forest City Council, the Orange County Board of Education and state legislators, but all said they do not have jurisdiction, Lange said.

Lange came by the City Council meeting to thank its members for sending a letter to the district opposing the closure.

"The credibility that you gave us … really went a long way," Lange said.

Students from Aliso Elementary School will attend Olivewood, Santiago or Rancho Canada elementary schools.

-- City News Service contributed to this report