The Wm. S. Hart Union High School District is scheduling a second series of public information meetings to cover proposed school boundary adjustments slated to take effect in August 2010. Adjustments are necessary to ease overcrowding in some area schools, while making better use of schools with declining enrollment.

The first meeting is scheduled for 7 to 8:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 24, in the multipurpose room at Placerita Junior High School, 25015 Newhall Ave., in Newhall, for families in the Calgrove/Hidden Valley area of Newhall. Those students currently attend Rancho Pico Junior High and West Ranch High School, which expects to enroll more than 2900 students next year. By contrast, Hart High School is expected to open next year at 2190 students, and Placerita also is one of the district’s smaller junior high schools.

The second proposed boundary adjustment is expected to affect students at Mountainview Elementary School and Rio Norte Junior High School. Students most likely to be affected by the proposed adjustments are students who live north of Copperhill Drive and east of Seco Canyon Road, although the Hart District also is considering different scenarios suggested by parents at the first informational meeting in June.

Students in the projected area currently attend Rio Norte Junior High and Valencia High School, where enrollment is projected to be at 3241 students next year. Rio Norte also is housing students beyond its design capacity, while the newly remodeled and expanded Saugus High School and Arroyo Seco Junior High are under enrolled.

A meeting for families in the Mountainview area is planned for 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 26, in the multipurpose room at Arroyo Seco Junior High School, 27171 Vista Delgado Dr., Valencia.

A third area facing potential boundary adjustment is the corridor along Sierra Highway north of Soledad Canyon, currently attending Mint Canyon Elementary School, and students at La Mesa Junior High who live in the same area. Those areas are being considered for adjustment to the Sierra Vista Junior High/Canyon High School area, which also is decreasing in enrollment while Golden Valley High School and La Mesa Junior High are facing a potential for rapid growth in the next few years.

A meeting for Mint Canyon-area families is scheduled for Monday, Aug. 31, in the multipurpose room at Mint Canyon School.

“This second round of meetings will give us a chance to present the attendance numbers that would result from various scenarios suggested by parents at the first meetings in June,” explained Superintendent Jaime Castellanos. “We’ll have the opportunity to explain why some of those suggestions will work and some won’t, and give parents a chance to hear the proposals we’ll be taking to the Governing Board in September.”

A schedule of all meetings and maps of the affected areas is posted to the Hart District’s Web site at www.hartdistrict.org by clicking on “Attendance Boundaries” under the “Students” drop-down menu. Residents in the affected areas also will be notified by flyers and telephone messages wherever possible.