FOCUS: ORANGE COUNTY COMMUNITY NEWS : IRVINE

Five Irvine community leaders will steer the campaign to pass a $95 property tax for the financially burdened school district.

“The list of supporters represents one of the broadest coalitions ever to come together in Irvine,” said PTA council president Marilyn Jacks, a co-chair of the group called Retaining Excellence in Irvine Schools Committee.

Joining Jacks on the committee are Ed Benoe, an accountant and representative of the Irvine Chamber of Commerce, real estate agent Doreen Benton, Chapman University law professor Hugh Hewitt and Clarence Nedom, who also chairs the Irvine Senior Citizens Council.

Irvine Unified School District trustees, who approved the district’s budget Tuesday, proposed the tax to fund threatened safety, science, class-size reduction and neighborhood schools programs.

This year, board members had prevented major cutbacks by drawing on $1.4 million in reserve money. But trustees emphasized that major cuts were inevitable should voters oppose the tax.