District to honor long-time service Employees...

District to honor

long-time service

Employees who have given 30 years or more of service to the Laguna

Beach School District are poised to get a little something back for

their efforts.

“The board is really supportive and they want to show how much

they appreciate long-term employment,” said Connie Belda, manager of

facilities and grounds.

At last week’s board meeting, Belda suggested the creation of a

large, permanent frame with room to include small plaques bearing the

names of honorees. She approached Marlo Bartels with the idea at

board member El Hathaway’s suggestion.

According to district records, 15 teachers who have retired in the

last three years had worked for 30 years or more. Also, there are 17

current employees who have already celebrated 30-year anniversaries

with the district.

Bartels has contributed several commemorative benches at three of

the four district schools and to the city, including the chessboard

at Main Beach, the bench in front of Laguna Art Museum and a

sculpture at Bank of America.

“This is a great program,” Bartels said. “My sons had some of

these teachers when they were in school.”

Belda emphasized that the project is still in the preliminary

stages. A budget has not been confirmed nor has the location of the

piece. Individual pieces could reside at each school site or one

large piece may be installed at the district, she said.

“All of the principals will be involved in the decision,” she

said. “We hope to come to the next board meeting with some

preliminary sketches and take it from there.”

-- Mary A. Castillo

PACE provides

open line with parents

Laguna Beach schools have found a way to better communicate with

students and families.

Last January the school board approved the purchase of a web-based

telecommunications system by the Partnership for Academic and

Community Excellence. The system cost $10,000 and has not only been

used by schools but also by school PTA groups, the PTA Council and

School Power.

“The district really wanted to initiate a proactive communications

system in a clear, consistent fashion, said Marshall Abbott,

co-founder and CEO of PACE.

The system does not require hardware or software, Abbott said.

Authorized users call a designated 800 number to record the message

and then go to a secure Web site where all telephone numbers are

stored and broken down into groups such as class, sports teams, etc.

After the user designates the message recipients and schedules it,

the message goes to the PACE data center where it is broadcast.

“It’s just an incredible communications tool,” said Betsy Jenkins,

president of School Power. “In the past we worked so hard to get

publicity about our coffee break meetings with fliers and newspaper

ads. Once we started using it there was a huge difference in the

number of families that showed up.”

The PACE system will be an important part of increasing attendance

at school events, said Jenkins. She expects to have a schedule of

next year’s Coffee Break meetings in August.

-- Mary A. Castillo