Magnet School in Orange Lures Eager Parents

ORANGE — Crowds of parents hoping to enroll their children in a new magnet school Saturday have set up camp outside school district offices, some since Wednesday night, despite earlier warnings that they would be ordered off the property.

By 8 p.m. Thursday, at least 150 people had staked out camping spots outside the Orange Unified School District Education Center, where registration for the much-anticipated opening of McPherson Magnet School begins early Saturday.

The parents, many of whom parked RVs along the street or napped in lawn chairs, were well behaved, said police, who decided therefore not to order them home. Some families took shifts to hold their places in line, while others ate dinner together beneath the center’s covered walkway.

Police left the center by 9:30 p.m. Thursday, but planned to patrol the area throughout the night. Shortly thereafter, parents received word from district officials that they could stay until 6 p.m. today. Then the crowd would be asked to move off the school property to avoid blocking the building’s entrance.

However, police said only district officials can determine how to recognize the campers once registration begins.

The district had told parents that they could begin lining up at 5 a.m. Saturday. Supt. Robert French said parents who honored that request would not be left out in favor of parents who showed up three days early. He expressed disappointment with the adults for “not following the rules.”

The new science, math and technology school received so much interest that district officials decided registration would be on a first-come, first-served basis.

The magnet campus is at the old McPherson Middle School site, 333 S. Prospect St.