Ringing in the new school year

It’s both eerie and exciting at the same time.

The students who will be part of Newport-Mesa’s last school year of

the 20th century will march onto local campuses today.

It’s a historic footnote, and there will be the ever-present media

spotlight, recording their victories and their stumbles along the way.

But just as the school year ties into the end of both a triumphant as

well as tragic 100 years, it is the beginning of what we all hope is a

bright and bountiful millennium.

It’s truly a new start for Newport-Mesa’s 21,000 students, their

parents, teachers and the rest of the district staff.

It’s a chance for school officials to renew efforts to tackle the many

challenges they face this year and beyond.

Those challenges span the spectrum from budget woes to Stanford 9 test

scores, each deserving of top priority.

But what must weigh the heaviest on the minds of the Newport-Mesa

school board leaders is the festering problem of how to pay for repairs

for decaying schools.

The price tag for that -- $127 million. And the trustees must find a

way to come up with the cash.

While Supt. Robert Barbot has suggested ways, like selling off a

school property, what really may need to happen is for trustees to go to

the members of the public and ask them to open up their wallets and

support a bond to help classrooms.

Not an easy task in Newport-Mesa.

And speaking of challenges, try reopening a long-closed school.

District officials, who succeeded in doing just that with Lincoln

Elementary in Corona del Mar several years ago, are looking for a repeat

performance with the reopening of Eastbluff Elementary School.

It seems they are off to a good start.

The 300 students who will attend the school, which underwent $5.3

million in renovations, will be graced with fresh new surroundings as

well as a state-of-the-art media center with 30 computers.

And if that’s not enough to worry about, there will be more questions

about school safety and whether or not it’s time to leave the district’s

long-standing zero tolerance policy in the 20th century and start anew

with a better policy in the 21st.

The students who will start school today represent our future. We all

hope the next millennium holds for them both success and happiness, and

that their achievements will be ones for the history books.