Castaic Residents to Vote on Junior High.

Van Nuys News | Tuesday, November 1, 1977.

Voters in the Castaic Union School District will go to the polls Nov. 8 to decide whether to establish junior high classes at the local elementary school or continue sending their youngster to Arroyo Seco Junior High School in Saugus.

It's an election which involves barely 800 registered voters. There is no organized campaign on either side of the issue and neither of the affected boards of education has taken a stand on the proposition.

If the ballot measure passes, Castaic and Val Verde youngsters who attend Castaic Elementary School would remain there for the seventh and eighth grades rather than going on to Arroyo Seco Junior High School which is in the William S. Hart Union High School District.

For most supporters of the ballot measure, the main issue is convenience. Round trip by school bus to and from Arroyo Seco for most of the Castaic students is more than an hour compared to 10 or 15 minutes to the elementary school.

Only about 65 children would be affected by the measure during the next two years and it is not expected to have any significant financial impact on either district.

Superintendent Joseph P. Fazio of the Castaic Union School District said his district would about break even if the proposition is approved.

Superintendent Clyde Smyth of the Hart High School District said if the measure passes, his district would lose an estimated $16,000 the first year and $30,000 the second in average daily attendance revenues from the state.

He said his district does not plan to lay off any teachers if the proposition is approved. "We're still growing pretty steadily," Smyth said. "We can use the teachers."

Fazio said the Castaic district would save the cost of the "tuition" it pays to the Hart district — this year amounting to $1,207 per student — for its junior high youngsters. That savings, he said, would be offset by the cost of starting junior high classes.

Although Castaic Elementary School has six empty classrooms, it would have to hire two new teachers if the ballot measure passes and begin purchasing equipment for junior high classes.

Fazio said Castaic can provide a "solid instructional program" for junior high but acknowledged that his school is not as well equipped as Arroyo Seco.

He said Arroyo Seco has a gymnasium, and equipment for industrial arts, typing and home economics classes which Castaic could not duplicate, at least at the outset.

[Excerpt:] Castaic Residents Vote to Start Junior High Classes.

Van Nuys News | Thursday, November 10, 1977.

Voters in the Castaic Union School District approved withdrawal from the William S. Hart High School District for the seventh and eighth grades. Approval of the measure means that Castaic youngsters will now attend junior high school classes offered at Castaic Elementary School rather than making the trip to Arroyo Seco Junior High School in Saugus.

Webmaster's note: Castaic residents voted 168-54, or 75.7 percent to 24.3 percent, to withdraw the seventh and eighth grades in the November 1977 general election. The same election saw the incorporation of Lancaster as a city by a margin of 65.7 to 34.3 (see below).