SCHOOL BOARD WRAPUP

The following is from the Nov. 28 meeting of the Laguna Beach Unified School District Board of Education.

DEPARTING BOARD MEMBERS RECOGNIZED

Bob Whalen and Bill Landsiedel were honored for their time on the board; Ketta Brown and Theresa O’Hare, who will take their places at the next meeting, also spoke.

Whalen, current president of the board, surprised the assembly with a presentation depicting his top 10 pieces of advice for the next board. He also distributed custom CDs of songs reminiscent of the group, including Pink Floyd’s “Money” in honor of Norma Shelton, assistant superintendent for business services, and Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven,” for Thurston Middle School Principal Joann Culverhouse.

DARTS AWARD WINNER NAMED

The Laguna Beach High School student body selected La Sirena Grill, 347 Mermaid St., as the recipient of its Dignity Appreciation and Respect for Treating Students (DARTS) award.

Cameron Cler, DARTS committee member and student board representative, reported to the board on how the committee and school selected the business.

A representative from the restaurant was not on hand to accept the award, which caused board president Bob Whalen to remark, “I’m sorry they are not here; I love La Sirena.”

Students apparently do, too.

STUDENTS HONORED

El Morro Elementary School Principal Chris Duddy presented two of his students for recognition.

Fourth-grader Ryan Moss was praised for winning the Municipal Water District of Orange County’s annual poster and slogan contest.

Fifth-grader Akili Gamba was congratulated for behavioral and athletic accomplishments.

ROP APPOINTMENTS

Board members El Hathaway and Betsy Jenkins were reappointed to the Regional Occupation Program Joint Powers Agreement, which presides over the combined ROP program of Saddleback Unified and Laguna Beach Unified. An alternate to the board will be named in the future, when the new Laguna board members begin their tenure.

NEW COURSE OUTLINE ADOPTED

The board unanimously adopted a new Academic Support course outline for implementation beginning this year.

The course, which comprises six sections at the high school this semester, teaches basic organization and study skills to ensure academic and social success.

The course is not intended to replace the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) course, which was discontinued this year.

ONLINE CONTINUATION COURSES APPROVED

A pilot program for an online learning program, NovaNET, was approved unanimously by the board.

The program is primarily intended to assist students who are behind in credits needed to graduate but want another option to attending courses in person outside the district, which does not have its own continuation high school.

The cost for one year of the service and all related installation and training was $15,950.

TECHNOLOGY BUILDING CONTRACT APPROVED

After a short discussion when Whalen pulled this item from the consent calendar, Dougherty + Dougherty AIA was unanimously approved to provide full architectural and engineering services for the proposed district technology building, at a cost of $39,600.

The district only received one other response to its request for proposals, from LPA, which has worked with the district previously. Its proposal was rejected due to its high proposed fee of $79,500, which was to include management services. Eric Jetta, the district’s director of facilities, said he planned to manage the project himself.