Like Wordle for baseball nerds, the Immaculate Grid has become this summer’s viral internet sensation

• July 10, 2023

These days the first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is grab my phone, open up my new favorite game and plunge myself into the deepest recesses of my memory bank, straining like hell to remember Carlos Pena.

All my friends are doing it too, and the group chat blows up around 9 a.m., as we eagerly await to share which Guys we’ve Remembered, kind of like friends calling each other on Christmas morning to discuss their presents. “You got Octavio Dotel?! Dude, nice, I can’t believe it!!”

This has become a way of life for sports fans over the last week and a half or so, a ritual that feels perfect for this moment, as the summer heat sets in, Fourth of July leftovers are still in the fridge and many of us are looking for a reason to text our friends as we tackle that latest work project from our couches.

The Immaculate Grid has become a viral sensation, like a Wordle or Sudoku for sports fans, only with childhood memories included.

Since its Twitter account became active in April, the Immaculate Grid has amassed more than 25,000 followers. Its popularity has exploded since the last two weeks of June, with interest hitting its peak on June 30 according to Google Trends, as searches for “Astros Rays players” “Astros Rays Cy Young,” “Shane McClanahan 200 Ks” and “David Price” prove people are not beyond cheating in order to impress their friends.

Immaculate Grid 93:#immaculategrid #mlbconnectgridhttps://t.co/4raWyQmE70
Retweet or reply with your score! pic.twitter.com/CFHiIYj5Bz

— Immaculate Grid (@immaculategrid) July 5, 2023

Savvy search-oriented websites are cranking out content daily surrounding answers to the grid, giving people a place to chea– er, look up the correct answers after they’ve been stumped and sent the results to their friends.

Like most internet things, the grid has emerged from a groundswell, going from niche find to popular culture novelty almost overnight.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone brought up the grid on the latest episode of the popular podcast Talkin’ Yanks, incidentally hosted by a pair of Central Connecticut State grads, Jimmy O’Brien (Jomboy) and Jake Storiale.

“Have you guys been doing the Immaculate grid?” Boone asked. “It’s big in our clubhouse.”

“I ripped off a 16 this morning,” he continued. “Rarity score.”

Aaron Boone says he’s good at the Immaculate Grid and the Yankees clubhouse loves doing it pic.twitter.com/wxW9Tp42GT

— Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) July 5, 2023

The game has made its way into clubhouses around the league, with Milwaukee Brewers beat reporter Curt Hogg excitedly delivering the news that the grid has reached the Brewers clubhouse, and that players are printing out sheets and filling them out. Hogg reported that outfielder Jesse Winkler, who would be a correct answer to a Brewers-Reds, Reds-Mariners or Brewers-Mariners square, scored a perfect 9 on June 28.

The most important news coming from the lower level of Citi Field right now: The Immaculate Grid has reached the Brewers clubhouse in printed-out sheets. Jesse Winker scored a 9 today.

— Curt Hogg (@CyrtHogg) June 28, 2023

The rules of the grid are pretty simple: Name any player who played for both the team shown on the x and y axis of the graph, or when a stat such as .300 batting season or Cy Young award is shown on the axis, name one who did that, too. The grid is unrelenting in its ruthlessness, however- there is no room for wrong answers. Hence the word immaculate, like an immaculate inning, in which a pitcher strikes out the side on just nine pitches.

In my group chat on the day of this writing, myself and two of my friends and former colleagues at NBC Sports were able to guess all nine answers correctly. The other friend in our chat, current Metsmerized.com writer and editor Ross Bentley, made eight correct guesses before staring down the final box in the grid, needing to name a former Rays and Astros player. He guessed Carlos Lee.

Devastating.

When Ross shared his result on the chat, it felt like a combined perfect game had been broken up with two outs in the ninth.

“Took a shot in the dark, but it didn’t pay off,” he said, before lamenting that he should have thought of Charlie Morton.

For the guys in my group chat, simply getting the right answers and completing the grid is the goal, but it’s an even higher status symbol to fill out the grid by guessing the most obscure players possible.

Baseball Prospectus writer Jarrett Seidler has been posting his results to Twitter, completing the puzzle with outright ridiculous answers, asking us to believe that he somehow knew that relief pitcher Pat Mahomes (Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ father) hit .300 one season while playing for the New York Mets.

I’m not saying he didn’t know that, but the part of me that likes to think that my guess of Tony Womack as a former Pirate and Diamondback was a stroke of peerless sports genius thinks he’s cheating.

We both did guess Arthur Rhodes though, along with only 0.2 percent of other players who played the game that day. Now that’s a rarity score.

On a given day, Immaculate Grid’s analytics report hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions of games being played. When you finish, the game gives you a chart showing the most popular correct answers, and allows you to share your score in a text or on social media without revealing your answers, much like Wordle.

It’s gotten popular enough that NBA, NHL and NFL versions of the game have been created in recent days.

If all of this sounds like nonsense, there’s one key thing to remember: It is.

But for those of us who spent our childhoods collecting memories about Pokey Reese and Mike Bordick and Lenny Dykstra, stashing away the information that Howie Kendrick was both an Angel and a National, or even that Jimmie Foxx once played for the A’s, this is a seminal moment.

It’s a chance to use the personal Elias Sports Bureaus we’ve built up in our heads, and to brag to our friends that we can remember Cecil Fielder. It’s also a reason to rip your friends, which is clearly the best part of all.

I mean seriously, Carlos Lee? Who thinks he played for the Rays?

​ Orange County Register 

Little Saigon’s night market draws largest crowd yet

• July 10, 2023

TikTok influencers have discovered Little Saigon‘s annual night market.

This year, the night market at Asian Garden Mall in Westminster has attracted the largest crowds yet, said Kathy Buchoz, one of the organizers of the night market and a director at the Westminster Chamber of Commerce.

In previous years, crowds were estimated at around 2,000 to 3,000 people each night, but this year Buchoz estimates an additional 1,000 people are attending each night. Returning vendors, too, have said this is the best night market yet, Buchoz said.

Non-Asian people, families and “a real mix of people traveling here from far away” have come to the night market to sample the various foods, enjoy the live music and shop the many vendors selling toys, clothing and other trinkets, she said.

One of the popular — and new — vendors at this year’s open-air market is the pho seller, she said. This is the first time the hearty Vietnamese soup dish has made an appearance at the night market, which is now in its 13th year.

Buchoz also recommends visitors try the fresh lobster.

“They have live lobsters. You can pick out which one you want, and they boil it right there, and so you get really fresh lobster,” she said.

And just like in previous years, the squid guy is the most popular vendor, Buchoz said. The vendor brings around 400 pounds of squid each night and grills it fresh for visitors.

The Little Saigon night market at the Asian Garden Mall at 9200 Bolsa Ave. runs every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. until Sunday, Sept. 3 (Labor Day weekend). Admission and parking are free.

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Hospitality workers strike at 8 more Southern California hotels

• July 10, 2023

Hundreds of cooks, room attendants, dishwashers, servers, bellmen and other workers from eight area hotels walked off the job Monday, July 10, marking the second wave of the largest multi-hotel strike in Southern California history.

The employees, represented by Unite Here Local 11, are seeking an immediate $5-hourly wage increase for all hotel workers, regardless of their current pay level. They want the hotels to continue providing family healthcare coverage for employees and are seeking upgrades to their pension plan as well as “safe and humane” workloads.

SEE MORE: What’s behind the workers’ strike at Southern California hotels?

The union also wants to establish a fund to help pay for the construction of affordable housing for hotel workers who are struggling amid rising rents and mortgages. The fund would be supported through a 7% tax on hotel guests, replacing the “junk fees” they currently pay for wireless service and other amenities, Unite Here said.

The hotel workers are seeking an immediate $5-an-hour pay increase. They also want to create a fund to help pay for the construction of affordable housing for hotel employees. (Photo courtesy of Unite Here Local 11)

Lilia Sotelo, a housekeeper at the Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles Hotel, fully supports the union’s demands.

“I am on strike because as a mom I will do anything to keep a roof over my kids’ heads,” Sotelo said “Rent is soaring but wages are not.”

Meanwhile, employees say rooms are no longer being cleaned on a daily basis.

“They’re only cleaning them on checkout, so that creates a heavier workload when they are cleaned,” said Christian Morales, a laundry worker at the Hilton Pasadena, said last month. “I was putting things in the laundry chute and it was clogged all the way up to the fifth floor.”

Unite Here co-President Kurt Petersen said the union hasn’t decided how long the latest walkout will last.

“We want to keep the companies guessing,” he said. “Right now, there are replacement workers sitting in these hotels waiting to be deployed to different jobs. So they’re paying for a second workforce.”

The latest walkout targets the Westin Los Angeles Airport hotel, Hotel June in Westchester and Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles hotel, among others. The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites in downtown LA is the only location that has reached a labor agreement with Unite Here, union officials said.

Monday’s strike comes just days after hundreds of hospitality workers picketed 21 hotels in Santa Monica and LA over the July 4th weekend.

Two days later, a bargaining group representing 44 Southern California hotels filed unfair labor practice charges against the union, claiming they broke the law by attempting to force the hotels into a contract with elements that have nothing to do with their employees and “could harm the Los Angeles tourism industry.”

The Coordinated Bargaining Group said Unite Here is insisting the hotels support a controversial LA County ballot measure requiring them to house the homeless along with regular guests. And they say the union’s proposed 7% tax on hotel guests is simply a way to grow Local 11’s footprint outside Los Angeles.

Pete Hillan, a spokesman for the Hotel Association of Los Angeles, said the homeless mandate and tax issue fall under the purview of city governments — not hotels.

“This is a real head-scratcher,” he said in an interview last week. “And the demand that hotels provide housing for homeless individuals wouldn’t come without wrap-around services that address mental illness, drug addiction and safety precautions for housekeepers.”

More than 15,000 Southern California hotel workers voted last month to authorize a strike, with 96% voting in favor of a walkout.

The top concern among the workers is the rising cost of housing. In a recent union survey, 53% of employees said they have either moved in the past five years or will be forced to move in the near future because of soaring housing costs.

“No worker should have to sleep in their car between shifts because they cannot afford to live in Los Angeles,” Petersen said. “Workers are striking because they believe that all workers in this city – whether you teach, write, act, or clean hotel rooms – deserve a wage that allows them to live with dignity in Los Angeles.”

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Ozzy Osbourne bows out of Power Trip concert in Indio

• July 10, 2023

Ozzy Osbourne will no longer perform at the mega Power Trip concert in Indio in October.

The 74-year-old Black Sabbath frontman has had numerous health issues and on Monday, July 10, he said he wouldn’t be able to join Iron Maiden, Metallica, Tool, Guns ‘N Roses and AC/DC for the event, scheduled at the Empire Polo Club on Oct. 6-8.

“As painful as it is, I’ve had to make the decision to bow out of performing on Power Trip in October,” an emailed statement read. “My original plan was to return to the stage in the summer of 2024, and when the offer to do this show came in, I optimistically moved forward. Unfortunately, my body is telling me that I’m just not ready yet and I am much too proud to have the first show that I do in nearly five years be half-assed.”

“The band that will be replacing me on Power Trip will be announced shortly,” the statement continued. “They are personal friends of mine and I can promise that you will not be disappointed. Above all, I want to thank my fans, my band, and my crew for their unconditional loyalty and continual support. I love you all and I will see you soon. God Bless, Ozzy.”

Earlier this year, Osbourne announced he’d be retiring from touring, citing difficulties following several back and neck surgeries he’s undergone as the result of a 2003 ATV accident and subsequent fall in 2019. In 2020, he also revealed that he’d been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and was under a doctor’s care. Though he was unable to complete his final tour, he shared with fans that he wouldn’t rule out occasional one-off performances.

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The three-day festival, produced by Goldenvoice, still incudes Guns N’ Roses and Iron Maiden performing on Oct. 6, AC/DC on Oct. 7 and Metallica and Tool on Oct. 8. Tickets are still available starting at $599 for general admission; $799 for three-day reserved seating; and $1,599 for pit access at powertrip.live.

Power Trip is reminiscent of the company’s 2016 festival Desert Trip, which brought together the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, The Who and Roger Waters of Pink Floyd for two consecutive weekends, and the Big 4 Festival, which saw sets from Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax and Metallica in 2011 at the same venue.

​ Orange County Register 

Anaheim offering down payment assistance for 29 affordable homes near Disneyland

• July 10, 2023

There are 29 new affordable homes available for first-time homebuyers looking for a place to live in Anaheim, located a stone’s throw away from the Disneyland Resort, with the city offering up to $100,000 in down payment assistance.

The townhome-style condos called 100 West, which are at 1214 S. Urbana St., are a part of the city of Anaheim’s BEGIN lending program. BEGIN provides up to $100,000 in down payment assistance for low- to moderate-income households.

Preference is given to people who already live or work in Anaheim. The assistance comes in the form of a bridge loan from the city. Most people who qualify for the loans get around $35,000 to $40,000, according to city spokesperson Erin Ryan.

The homes are priced in the mid-$400,000s and have two bedrooms with two-and-a-half bathrooms. Other homes available to buy at 100 West go for more than $800,000.

Interested homebuyers would first need to qualify with Toll Brothers, the developer, and get a mortgage through a lender approved by them. Then homebuyers would apply for down payment assistance with the city. There are 12 people who have ongoing applications for down payment assistance, Ryan said.

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The BEGIN program requires people to provide at least 3% cash for the down payment.

There are 292 units at the 100 West development. The city gave Toll Brothers density bonus approval for setting aside some units for low-income earners.

The income limits to qualify are $153,350 for a household of four people or $107,350 for a single person, which is based on 120% of the Orange County median income set by the state.

The city’s first-time homebuyer program has been around for more than 20 years.

​ Orange County Register 

Status Update: Philz, Snooze, Sender One among new shops coming to Bella Terra

• July 10, 2023

Bella Terra signed a handful of leases with new tenants bringing new eats and treats to the bustling shopping center in Huntington Beach.

Signed leases include:

Philz Coffee, opening this month; Fogo De Chão (August), Jan’s Health Bar (coming this fall), Snooze AM Eatery (fall debut), The Golf Bar, indoor golf experience (opens this winter)

Philz Coffee is opening in July at Bella Terra shopping center in Huntington Beach. (LiPo Ching/Staff)

Coming next year is the popular indoor rock climbing gym, Sender One.

The restaurant previously known as Puesto has reopened as Marila’s Mexican restaurant.

There will be much change coming to Bella Terra in the months ahead as property owner DJM and partner PGIM add even more retail and apartments to the mix.

The companies are tearing down the 149,000-square-foot structure Burlington Coat Factory and an adjacent retail commercial building, which will be replaced with retail and restaurants on the ground floor under 300 new apartments.

The project should be completed by late 2023, DJM said.

New tenants have signed leases, joining Trader Joe’s at The Square Cypress, a mixed-use retail center under development in Cypress. (Courtesy of Shea Properties)

The Square taking shape in Cypress

A retail center under development in Cypress has added several retail merchants due to open this year.

The Square at Cypress, a project by Shea Properties in Aliso Viejo, is anchored by Trader Joe’s, which opened in early May.

Also due to join the 30,000-square-foot retail property are BLK Dot Coffee, Board & Brew Specialty Sandwiches, Dr. Footman, El Zarape, The Kebab Shop and YogaSix.

In the future, the property at 5251 Katella Ave. also will have a sprawling, 251-unit apartment complex, a movie theater, a medical office building and a 128-room Homewood Suites by Hilton.

Clinic in Orange expanding to offer free surgeries

The Lestonnac Free Clinic in Orange is expanding to add a free surgery center.

The nonprofit, which was founded by Sister Marie Therese in 1979, recently celebrated the project with a “wall-breaking” ceremony. The center is gaining 4,000 square feet for the Lestonnac Surgery Center, which will offer free procedures for non-life-threatening issues such as colonoscopies, hernia repairs, and eye surgeries. All of the procedures are free to low-income patients.

The center should be open by spring 2024.

“There is a critical need for more non-life-threatening surgeries among financially vulnerable populations,” explained Edward Gerber, executive director of Lestonnac Free Clinic.

Gerber said the surgery center will have dual operating rooms, helping volunteer doctors boost the number of procedures monthly to 64 from 13.

The clinic works with 300 physicians from Orange County and Southern California hospitals who all donate their time.

The surgery center was funded with a $3 million donation by the Thompson Family Foundation.

Tax preparers helped 16K filers this year

Remember all those volunteers lining up to help prepare and file tax returns?

Well, the folks behind the OC Free Tax Prep program hosted by Orange County United Way say volunteers helped 16,127 tax filers this year.

Here are some of the key numbers:

—23 local organizations helped make it happen at 522 free tax prep events across the county.

—Eligible taxpayers who earned less than $60,000 annually had their taxes prepared free of charge. Volunteers also helped them figure out if they qualified for various state and federal tax credits.

—The average gross income of taxpayers helped was just under $29,000 per year.

—More than 16,152 volunteer hours were contributed by 727 virtual and in-person volunteers.

For more information on the program, go to ocfreetaxprep.com.

Men with localized prostate cancer have a new treatment option at Hoag. Focal One uses a noninvasive robotic High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) technology to target and eliminate the diseased tissue. (Courtesy of Hoag Hospital)

Milestones

There’s a new option for men with localized prostate cancer at Hoag in Newport Beach. The procedure called Focal One uses a noninvasive, robotic high-intensity focused ultrasound to target cancerous prostate tissue. Surgeons use the tool to ablate or destroy just the diseased portion of the prostate. For more information, go to hoag.org/hifu.

The 19th annual Destination Independence Walk + Family Fair raised more than $65,000 for Santa Ana-based Beyond Blindness’ programs and services. More than 500 supporters and volunteers, including the Johnson & Johnson Vision team walkers seen here, participated June 3 in the non-competitive walk and family fair. (Courtesy of Beyond Blindness)

Fundraiser updates

Irvine-based Human Options raised nearly $500,000 at its annual Serious Fun Gala at the Balboa Bay Resort in Newport Beach. The money will help the organization provide programs and services such as legal advocacy support, therapy and counseling, elder abuse prevention and emergency shelter and transitional housing programs.

The 19th annual Scholarship Luncheon benefiting Orangewood Foundation raised $413,000 to support programs and services for youth in foster care. A highlight of the luncheon at the Balboa Bay Resort in Newport Beach came during a call for contributions, when Shirley Pepys, Renee Pepys Lowe and Dan Houck matched donations up to $75,000.

The 19th annual Destination Independence Walk + Family Fair raised more than $65,000 for Santa Ana-based Beyond Blindness programs and services. More than 500 supporters and volunteers participated June 3 in the non-competitive walk and family fair.

Grants

Community Action Partnership of Orange County (CAP OC) has been granted $150,000 by SoCalGas, as part of the company’s 2023 ‘Fueling Our Communities’ $4 million initiative to help address food insecurity through partnerships with nonprofit organizations in central and southern California.

The Orange County Register’s 16th annual Top Workplaces program opens for nominations Sunday, May 28. (Southern California News Group)

Top Workplaces nomination period extended

The nomination period for the Register’s 16th annual Top Workplace program has been extended to Aug. 11.

Any organization with 35 or more employees in Orange County is eligible to participate and includes public, private, nonprofits and government agencies.

Participation is free.

Workplaces are evaluated by their employees using a 24-question survey.

The list of winners will be announced in late 2023

To nominate online, go to ocregister.com/nominate or call 714-442-2768.

SEE MORE: See all 169 Orange County company winners in 2022

Status Update is compiled from press releases by contributing writer Karen Levin and edited by Business Editor Samantha Gowen. Submit items and high-resolution photos to sgowen@scng.com. Allow at least one week for publication. Items are edited for length and clarity.

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​ Orange County Register 

Stagecoach Country Music Festival announces 2024 dates and advance ticket sales

• July 10, 2023

Goldenvoice’s Stagecoach Country Music Festival will return to the Empire Polo Club in Indio on April 26-28, 2024.

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival‘s sister country fest will follow the back-to-back weekends of Coachella on April 12-14 and 19-21, 2024.

ALSO SEE: Stagecoach 2023: Our 50 best photos from the country music festival 

Though we don’t know the lineup just yet, advance tickets will go on sale at 11 a.m. Friday, July 14 at stagecoachfestival.com, but will only be available for 48-hours at the discounted rates. General admission passes start at $399; Rhinestone Saloon passes are $799; Corral Reserved seating is $949-$1,999; Corral Standing Pit passes are $1,599; VIP packages are $1,499-$2,999.

Stagecoach celebrated its 15th year in Indio earlier this year with headlining sets by Luke Bryan, Kane Brown and Chris Stapleton. Festival curators rearranged the layout of the festival this year to expand restauranteur and TV personality Guy Fieri’s Stagecoach Smokehouse and singer-songwriter Nikki Lane’s Stage Stop Marketplace.

EDM artist and producer Diplo curated the expanded Honky Tonk Dance Hall and brought some of his DJ friends including Girl Talk and Dillon Francis. While the Honky Tonk was overflowing, the after-parties over at Late Night in Palomino were a hit, too. “RuPaul’s Drag Race” star Trixie Mattel entertained the masses following Bryan’s Mane Stage performance and Nelly and Diplo each drew massive crowds after turns by Kane and Stapleton.

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In Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified, a battle brews over proposed charter school

• July 10, 2023

Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District has been looking at adding a charter school to the district, and California Republic Leadership Academy is hoping to its choice.

CRLA Yorba Linda is a transitional kindergarten through eighth-grade charter school that will instill values of “virtue, responsibility and accountability,” said Gary Davis, CRLA’s executive director and a California Charter Schools Association vice president, during a June 20 PYLUSD board meeting.

The goal of the new, tuition-free school would be to “inspire and empower the next generation of California’s leaders to excel academically, to be proud Americans, proud Californians, and to impact the world with excellence derived from an education like that which produced the inspired servant leaders who founded our great nation,” according to its mission statement.

Students — which CRLA calls “scholars” — will be taught a “classical education” curriculum that will include history, English, math, visual and performing arts, laboratory science, foreign language and college preparatory electives.

Davis said classical education “guides students to love that which is true, good, and beautiful.”

The school would operate under the FranklinCovey “Leader in Me” curriculum that is based on the “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” book by Stephen Covey. This curriculum is “leadership” focused, encouraging students to “intentionally lead their own lives,” according to the FranklinCovey website.

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“Students are led and taught to see how people, decisions and discoveries have created the world we live in today,” said Davis. “Teachers will provide unbiased instruction without an agenda. Our goal is to raise up a generation of critical thinkers to lead our communities.”

CRLA will also hold “traditional values” in classes. According to Davis, this looks like uniforms for all students, no cellphones, daily Pledge of Allegiance recitations and reading virtuously — meaning not just assigned reading, but for reading fun and enrichment.

The school wants to “nourish freedom and instruct others in the principles of liberty” which will be done specifically by teaching students “‘how’ to think and not ‘what’ to think,’” as outlined on its website.

Many district parents, during the June 20 board meeting, expressed dismay with the potential addition of a charter school to the district, arguing that it is “not prioritizing PYLUSD families” during the process.

Shani Murray, a PYLUSD parent, created a petition along with other parents to urge the district to “protect local students” by denying the CRLA’s request. As of Friday morning, it had more than 300 signatures.

“I’m concerned about the lack of transparency surrounding charter schools trying to come to PYLUSD,” said Murray, a senior writer for UCI’s Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences. “The CRLA petition was received in April, so it’s troubling that the district waited until summer vacation to inform the community.”

“At the public hearing, it became clear that CRLA would likely need PYL classrooms and facilities,” Murray added. “It was also clear that the majority of interested students are not from Placentia or Yorba Linda”

During the meeting, Davis said that 165 of the 200 families expressing interest in the charter live outside of the PYLUSD district, in areas such as Burbank and Huntington Beach.

“PYLUSD is an amazing school district with a variety of options and opportunities for students so I don’t know what gap this charter is trying to fill. I hope PYLUSD prioritizes local students and denies the charter,” said Murray.

If approved, CRLA would be authorized as an in-person instructional program and would open its doors in time for the 2024-25 school year with an enrollment of 340 during its first year and 500 by 2030.

The main hurdle for the creation of this school is finding a property to utilize, Davis said.

Like other school districts across Orange County and California, PYLUSD has seen a drop in enrollment. The district’s enrollment during the 2022-23 school year is 23,138 compared to 25,741 in 2017-18, according to the California Department of Education.

This drop in enrollment has opened up space in various PYLUSD classrooms, which Davis said could be a “potential place to teach the charter school students.”

Ideally, said Davis, CRLA will have its own property to lease. The issue, however, is that a lease has not been finalized or sought after, which PYLUSD board member Leandra Blades said “could be a problem.”

“I want to be realistic when we talk about the process,” said Blades. “When we talk about partnerships, this is a school that is separate and needs to have a specific space which could make this process harder.”

If it is approved to become a charter in the district but cannot find a place to lease, the school has until Nov. 1 to request space in the district’s schools, according to the petition’s documents and Proposition 39.

The school would be the second CRLA in Orange County; the first location will begin its first year of operation in San Juan Capistrano on Aug. 17.

The approval of the San Juan Capistrano location was not an easy process as the school had to seek an appeal from the Orange County Board of Education after the Capistrano Unified School District Board split votes on the charter petition back in November.

There are currently no charter schools in the PYLUSD, but this is not the first program to request to be in the district: In April, Orange County Classical Academy petitioned, requesting classroom space and use of school facilities. That request was never presented to the school board after a separate petition in opposition gathered more than 1,100 signatures.

When reached for comment, board members shared a pre-written statement detailing CRLA’s petition submission and the district’s scheduled hearings about the matter.

The PYLUSD board has become known for taking action against what it sees as progressive integration in the classroom. Last year, the board banned the teaching of critical race theory from the classroom, the first in Orange County to do so.

The official vote for the approval of CRLA will take place during the PYLUSD’s Aug. 8 board meeting.

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​ Orange County Register