MEASURE E BIG WIN FOR NEIGHBORHOOD WENDOVER ROAD RESIDENTS TAKE BALLOT, 11-0.

Byline: Jennifer Hamm Staff Writer

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE - A ballot issue that brought out only 11 voters on Tuesday has produced big gains for residents of Wendover Road.

Residents of a hillside street that straddles Pasadena and La Canada unanimously approved county Measure E, allowing them to continue sending their children to the prestigious La Canada Unified School District, which produces some of the highest standardized test scores in Los Angeles County.

Residents already had been sending their children to La Canada schools for decades but were notified more than a year ago by La Canada school district officials that their school-age children should actually attend Pasadena schools.

``It was a rather strange area that even the county had confused in terms of what school district it should be in,'' La Canada Superintendent Lorene Gonia said Thursday.

Feeling shocked and disenfranchised, Wendover Road residents decided to fight. They began lobbying school boards in the two districts, both of which initially opposed the measure because it meant a potential loss of students.

But residents persisted. John Haynes, who launched the petition to put the measure before voters, made lengthy presentations to both school boards and assembled packets of information explaining why Wendover Road children should continue attending La Canada schools.

The residents' primary argument centered on their longtime identity with the La Canada community, Haynes said.

It only made sense. Homes on Wendover Road feature La Canada zip codes and area codes. Homeowners shop in La Canada. For years, school district officials even assured residents that their children belonged in La Canada schools.

``I've got nothing against Pasadena,'' said Wendover Road resident John Carraway, 60. ``Twenty-five years of residency, I feel attached to La Canada.''

Haynes dismissed the notion that residents' efforts to join La Canada schools indicated a dissatisfaction with Pasadena schools. La Canada students score far better on standardized test scores than their counterparts in Pasadena. And less than 10 percent of La Canada's students receive free or reduced-priced meals, compared to 66 percent of students in Pasadena schools.

``The La Canada schools are fine and the Pasadena schools are fine, but we've always identified with the La Canada schools and we wanted to keep and preserve that identity,'' Haynes said.

School officials ultimately decided the squabble over attendance boundary lines was a minor issue.

``There are some unique circumstances for that neighborhood,'' said Bill Bibbiani, director of research and testing for the Pasadena school district. ``You can't get to it from Pasadena unless you are a mountain climber.''

After the lengthy petition to the Los Angeles County Office of Education and both school districts, the neighbors won the right to place the measure put on the ballot.

Not wanting to chance it, Haynes called all of his neighbors to make sure they had submitted absentee ballots. And with 11 votes to zero, the measure passed Tuesday.

It's unclear whether the 16 eligible voters make Measure E one of the smallest ballot races in county history, said Grace Chavez, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Registrar Recorder's Office. Typically, county measures have anywhere from 1.5 million to 3.8 million voters, she said.

But all the effort for the tiny race was worth it, Haynes said.

``Like everything else in life, you've got to fight for what's right,'' he said. ``We're all grateful it worked out.''