NEWPORT-MESA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD WRAP-UP

WHAT HAPPENED:

Cub masters from throughout the district united Tuesday night to fight

what they believed to be a district proposal to begin charging Cub Scout

troops to meet in school multipurpose rooms.

Den moms and dads, as well as a few cubs, took the lectern to appeal

to the district. President David Brooks addressed audience members,

informing them that the charges were not part of a district proposal but

rather that the fees were an idea under consideration by the district

budget advisory committee.

WHAT IT MEANS:

Cub scout troops will keep a close eye on the issue, including

following up with the advisory committee. The civic groups said the

proposed charges of $175 per use, at once or twice a month, would empty

their coffers.

WHAT THEY SAID:

“In one year’s time, we would be out of business, and that is the

business of educating young boys,” said Thomas Stolp, leader of Troop 188

in Costa Mesa.

Vote: No vote

WHAT HAPPENED:

The board approved an agreement between the school district and the

Datawise Corp. Datawise will install a program called Measures throughout

the district at an initial cost of $170,000.

WHAT IT MEANS:

The program will allow administrators and teachers to look at, analyze

and compare multiple measures of student assessment. It would allow them

to compare and graph results from state assessment tests, as well as

districtwide and even single campus tests.

Vote: 5 / 0 with 2 absent

IN FAVOR

WHAT HAPPENED:

Rob Ragland, of McCarthy Construction, and Tony Petros, chair of the

Citizens Oversight Committee, updated the school board about the progress

of the spending of the money from Measure A, and the board agreed to

accept the report.

WHAT IT MEANS:

Ragland and his project management team have visited every school site

to determine the scope of the projects before them. The team is coming up

with an implementation plan and an estimated budget for each project.

Petros’ 30-member committee has been working with the project

management team and will assist in interviewing architects so that one

may be chosen this summer. They also have developed plans for

communicating all that is happening with the public.

Vote: 5 / 0

IN FAVOR

NEXT MEETING

WHAT: Newport-Mesa Unified School District Board of Education meeting

WHEN: 7 p.m. June 26

WHERE: District Education Center, 2985--A Bear St., Costa Mesa.