By Jennifer Jester-Madrigal

Eastvale – For the second time, a group of Eastvale residents have filed a petition to become annexed by the Corona-Norco Unified School District (CNUSD) as opposed to the Jurupa Valley School District they are now a part of.  Their goal is to have their children attend Eastvale’s highly rated schools.

According to Bree Pressler-Dennis, a resident of one of these communities, “We live in Eastvale and it makes sense that our children should have the same rights as others to attend these schools. I was initially told when I moved here, I would have to send my children to a Pedley school with scores in the 300s instead of the highly rated schools here.”

A resident from the Eastvale Estates, who wished to remain anonymous, agreed with this statement and added, “As a parent, why would you want to send your child to a low-rated school when you could send them to higher scoring school that is in your city?”

The second petition, which was filed on Nov. 13, 2014 and includes 117 valid signatures, was made up of only those residents from the 244-home Eastvale Estates tract. According to the Riverside County Department of Education, the petition has enough valid signatures and will move forward.

Bill Newberry, CNUSD Board Member, spoke briefly about the annexation request at Eastvale’s Town Hall meeting on Jan. 27. Newberry said that there were about 100 students involved in this petition, about 50 of which are already in Eastvale on inter-district transfers. If the petition passes, Newberry doesn’t expect it to really impact Eastvale schools too severely.

A public hearing must now be held by the Jurupa and Corona-Norco school boards within 60 days of Jan. 8. If this petition is accepted, it can then move forward to the next step which will most likely occur in mid to late February, according to the Riverside County Department of Education.

Eastvale schools are part of CNUSD, but a small percentage of Eastvale residents – east of Hamner Avenue and west of Interstate 15 – are actually not inside CNUSD and are thus not eligible to attend schools within the district.  These communities include Eastvale Estates, Swan Lake and Homecoming at Eastvale; however, the latest petition was submitted on behalf of Eastvale Estates residents only.