Board to discuss budget

Jessica Garrison

NEWPORT-MESA -- The biggest item on school board members’ plates tonight

is one they won’t even try to vote on yet. Board members have called a

special meeting for Sept. 7 to vote on the final budget for the school

year, but in advance of that decision they will devote a good portion of

their meeting tonight to questioning district staff about the budget.

Mike Fine, the district’s superintendent for business services, has been

working all summer to try to develop a balanced budget. District

officials promised last spring they would never have a deficit again, and

in June, board members approved a tentative budget that they said did not

have a deficit. County officials later questioned that assertion, noting

that technically, the budget is $2 million in deficit. But board members,

along with Fine, said that while the district may appear to have a

deficit due to bookkeeping practices, it really is deficit-free. Board

members will also hold a public hearing on the budget, to hear community

members input.

Also on the agenda:

* Steve Glyer, the district’s new head of technology, will come to the

meeting to meet board members formally and talk about technology in the

school district. He will also give a presentation about Harbor View

students’ conversation with the Space Shuttle in July, when Harbor View

students spoke with astronauts over HAM radio.

* Board members will also vote on whether to settle a number of claims

filed against the district. District staffers have recommended that board

members approve paying $82,500 to a bus driver who injured his back while

getting out of the driver’s seat of the bus. They also recommend paying

$21,420 to a former bus driver who was rear-ended by a car and $5,775 to

an employee who injured his elbow.

* Board members will also vote on whether to ask the state to make the

district eligible to receive state bond money to modernize schools.

Because Newport-Mesa sold the Bear Street School in 1995 and put the proceeds into the general fund, the district had been barred from

participating, but board members believe the district should now be

eligible.