School District Wrap-Ups

Paula Pisani

Three school districts held board meetings Tuesday night. Here is a

sampling of some of the decisions they made:

HUNTINGTON BEACH CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT

ISSUE: JOINT-USE AGREEMENT FOR AQUATICS FACILITIES

Vote: 4-1, with trustee Matthew Harper dissenting

Summary: The district and city have been working on plans for aquatic

facilities at Huntington Beach and Ocean View high schools. The district

and city have jointly developed a use agreement for the two facilities so

they are prepared if funding become available to construct them. The

agreement was reviewed last week by a joint committee of the board,

Huntington Beach City Council and the city’s Community Services

Commission.

The city is expected to approve a funding plan at a May meeting.

Harper said that although he supports the Huntington Beach High School

pool, he is not convinced the Ocean View pool is feasible.

ISSUE: CLASS-SIZE REDUCTION PROGRAM

Vote: 5-0

Summary: The board approved the expansion of the pilot class-size

reduction program for ninth-grade English and language arts to include

Westminster High School for the 2000-2001 school year.

ISSUE: NEW SCHOOL VANS

Vote: 5-0

Summary: The board agreed to spend reserve funds to buy up to 24

previously owned school passenger vans to replace an equal number of

older, worn-out vehicles. The estimated cost of the 24 vehicles is

$168,000, with the potential of recovering about $50,000 from the sale of

the currently owned vans.

ISSUE: FEE INCREASE FOR LEGAL SERVICES

Vote: 3-2, with Harper and trustee Sallie Dashiell dissenting

Summary: The board amended the agreement with Rutan & Tucker to increase

the hourly rate from $155 per hour to $165 per hour.

FOUNTAIN VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT

ISSUE: 2000 STATE LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

Vote: 5-0

Summary: The Action Committee for Education has created the district’s

first State Legislative Agenda, which includes the district’s position on

critical educational issues. The board reviewed and adopted the agenda.

ISSUE: CAPITAL PROJECTS FUNDS, 5-YEAR DEFERRED MAINTENANCE PLAN

Vote: 5-0

Summary: The board reviewed the projects funds and authorized district

staff to proceed with proposed spending plans for facility repairs and

improvements, including roofing, flooring and painting projects.

ISSUE: EXPANSION OF WEST COAST YMCA PROGRAM TO MASUDA MIDDLE SCHOOL

Vote: 5-0

Summary: Parents at Masuda Middle School have shown an interest in a

supervised after-school program for students. The board expanded its

agreement with the West County YMCA to provide such a program at the

school beginning in September.

OCEAN VIEW SCHOOL DISTRICT

ISSUE: PURCHASE OF RELOCATABLE CLASSROOMS

Vote: 5-0

Summary: The board agreed to buy additional relocatable classrooms. One

phase of the relocatable purchase program includes installing a

kindergarten unit with a restroom and seven single classroom units at six

school sites.

The estimated cost to buy the structures is $274,000.ISSUE: COMPETITIVE

APPLICATION FOR STATE PRESCHOOL PROGRAM FUNDING

Vote: None

Summary: Schools in California have the opportunity to compete for new

State Preschool Program funds for the 2000-2001 school year.

The grant is for about $525,000.

School officials have recognized the need to provide quality preschool

programs for children in the Oak View attendance area, which officials

say is 99% Hispanic, particularly to provide English language development

skills.

” What we want, is in the Oak View community, to have a preschool program

for 3- and 4-year-olds, and then two years in kindergarten,” Supt. James

Tarwater said. “We feel that by introducing English language skills

early, giving them time to develop language skills, by end of fifth grade

they won’t be more than one year behind in reading and math skills.”