Bronson Belsito arrived at Holder Elementary in Buena Park on Thursday morning excited – but a little bummed his unexpected vacation was over.
“I’m glad to be back with my friends and my teacher,” the third-grader said. “But I wish I had a few more days off.”
Bronson was one of 345 students from Hope View Elementary in Huntington Beach returning to school Thursday in classes at Holder.
Overall, some 1,600 elementary students from three Ocean View District schools shuttered over possible asbestos contamination arrived at nine campuses across four school districts Thursday morning.
Most students rode buses to their temporary schools, while some parents drove their children.
The arrangement could last for the rest of the calendar year.
At Holder – 10 miles from Hope View, which closed Oct. 6 – a caravan of two dozen carloads of parents and children followed four buses filled with other students.
Teachers and Holder’s principal greeted parents and students in the parking lot. Signs were posted around campus: “Welcome!! Hope View,” and “We’re happy you’re here!”
Some students arrived clutching bouquets of flowers for their teachers. Others hugged and high-fived classmates they hadn’t seen in nearly two weeks.
“This is not an ideal situation,“ said Bronson’s father, Joe Belsito. “But there is some comfort that my son is coming to Holder with his own teacher and classmates.”
Belsito drove his son to school Thursday but plans to send him on the bus from now on. “I just wanted to take a look at this temporary school for myself. I feel better knowing what it looks like and where it is.“
Other Hope View students were sent to schools in Huntington Beach and Westminster. Students from Oak View Elementary were assigned to other Huntington Beach campuses and to a Buena Park school.
Lake View Elementary students were sent to two other Huntington Beach schools.
Before Thursday, Hope View and Oak View students had been out of school for eight days, while Lake View students had missed six. The three campuses could be closed for up to two months.
Some parents said they were glad that at least part of the ordeal is over, with students finally back at school. But frustrations remain.
The bell schedule for hundreds of students at temporary schools has classes starting between 9:45 and 9:50 a.m., two hours later than the normal.
“That will cause a lot of problems with day care, and parents’ work schedules,” said Patricia Ramirez, an Oak View parent with a daughter attending Knott Elementary in Buena Park.
Ramirez said she will have to start work two to three hours later each day so she can take her daughter to the bus stop.
“It seems that as soon as one problem is solved, another one pops up,” said Ramirez, who has already missed four days of work as a receptionist in a dental office while her daughter’s been home.
Tom DeLapp, the Ocean View District’s spokesman, said the district is considering modifying bell schedules over the next few days to make them more compatible with those at students’ home schools.
“We had to ensure the first few days that we had an adequate number of buses to serve all students who needed a new ride to their locations,“ he said. “That’s why we staggered some of the bell schedules.”
DeLapp said the district is also looking at adding before- and after-school tutoring and other programs to help keep more students at the schools longer in case parents need flexibility.
Other parents continue to ask Ocean View officials why construction crews were renovating campuses, which caused the asbestos contamination, well into the start of the school year.
Many also fear that asbestos exposure could have harmed students and staff.
Health care experts brought in earlier this week to meet with parents said it’s highly unlikely the asbestos levels found in schools are high enough to cause any significant health issues.
The district continues to wait for the full results of tests at the eight other Ocean View campuses, which were also under renovation and remain open, to check for possible asbestos contamination.
Preliminary air samples have shown no contamination, officials have said.
Maribel Mendez, a parent of two children at Oak View, said her kids were thrilled to see their classmates again and even looked forward to doing their homework.
“I’ve worked to shield my children from all the negative news about their school,” she said.
“They might be going to another school for a few weeks. But I keep telling them that Oak View is being fixed, and soon they’ll be back at the school they love.”
Contact the writer: fleal@ocregister.com
