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Focus on science at Eastbluff

Newport-Mesa has a plan to emphasize science at Eastbluff Elementary, in part to draw students there but also as a test for construction that would be funded by the proposed Measure F school bond. Do you think the proposal is a good idea and a reason for voters to back the bond?

The new science facilities and emphasis at Eastbluff are very good ideas and good reasons to back Measure F. The more projects like these we can launch, the more momentum we’ll build for continuing to improve public education in our community.

Positioning the Eastbluff project as a prototype from which lessons can be learned about how to best design school science facilities is a good idea. I strongly encourage anybody who has any interest or stake in school facilities to get in there early and stay on top of how things are working. Teachers and parents will need to stay involved to make sure that they’re part of the process when it comes time to build science facilities at other schools.

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I’ve been involved with Measure A since the beginning and have learned a few lessons. The district and the process for these building projects have flexibility, but making the best use of that flexibility requires involvement and attention, right from the start and through to the end.

Many high school science teachers were unhappy with the way the Measure A science rooms were designed and constructed. Unfortunately, in many cases, the science teachers were not very involved as the projects went from wish-list to blueprint, at which point it’s much harder to make adjustments to the plans and budgets. Compromises, changes and fixes have been made, but teachers probably would have gotten closer to their preferred configurations had they been involved throughout.

The school district and the architects have a set of design goals that they believe will best deliver the highest quality education for the fewest tax dollars. Those are benevolent goals, but they don’t always align with classroom reality. Teachers and parents have a say, but only if they are actively watching and participating in the process. Public education may be “free,” but for teachers, students and parents, extracting what one really wants from public education definitely requires work.

* MARK GLEASON is a Costa Mesa resident and parent.

Eastbluff? Why not Adams, Kaiser or Whittier? Why is there no similar effort made to find a way to lure parents to any Costa Mesa schools that have enrollment problems. Lord knows Costa Mesa parents would be pleased to have any kind of magnet school.

Also, to tie the program to the bond is disingenuous. Taxpayers should be able to see the money will be used equally in the district, not just to help one school increase enrollment through a new program.

This proposal shows the district draws a blank when it comes to creative solutions tor long-standing problems at low-performing Costa Mesa schools.

If the bond passes, perhaps some will travel the extra distance to Eastbluff, assuming of course they would have equal enrollment standing as Newport parents. I wonder what would happen if a number of parents of English-language learners decided to drive to Eastbluff.

I have noticed over the years that when there is a problem in a Newport zone, trustees and the administration go out of their way and find a solution to quickly appease parents. A few years ago there was a serious problem with bullying at Corona del Mar High School.

A parent committee was formed, and, presto, a new policy about bullying was approved by trustees, 6-1. (I was the lone dissenter because a general policy already existed to address negative behavior.) Those parents had clout.

It’s not as if trustees don’t know Costa Mesa parents routinely transfer children to Newport schools and that some parents use bogus addresses because they want a better school than the one in their neighborhood. You would think by now there would be a magnet, fundamental or charter school on the Westside. In other districts, these kinds of schools repeatedly produce high achievement among all students, especially English-language learners.

* WENDY LEECE is a Costa Mesa parent, former school board member and member of the city’s parks and recreation commission.

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