School district chooses Mann to lead board...

School district chooses Mann to lead board

The Huntington Beach City School District has selected a new board

president for 2004.

Robert Mann, who teaches physical education at Warner Middle

School in the Westminster School District, will take over next year.

Mann will oversee board meetings in a year board members expect to

see a variety of challenges posed by shrinking state funds and

efforts to modernize schools with recent bond-measure funds.

He expects the board to spend much of its time next year wrestling

with financial matters, Mann said.

“I think that it’s probably going to be the problem of keeping the

quality of education at a tight budget and maintaining class-size

reduction and maintaining decent compensation for employees,” he

said.

Shirley Carey, the 2003 board president, praised Mann’s skills.

“He works well with the staff and administration,” Carey said. “He

has the big picture in mind.”

Students serving as Santas to seniors

Fifth-graders at William E. Kettler Elementary School shared the

holiday spirit with local seniors on Friday with a sizable donation

to Orange County’s Senior Santa and Friends program.

“It went very well,” Principal Olivia Gaddini said. “We had four

boxes and they were overflowing.”

Former Huntington Beach Mayor Connie Boardman was a guest at the

donation ceremony. Donated items varied from raincoats to microwaves.

Last year’s Senior Santa efforts were successful, with more than

100 items donated, said Michelle Yerke, a social worker with

Huntington Beach Social Services.

This year donations are somewhat slower, with around 40 donations

in thus far.

The economy seems to be affecting everything, but people’s hearts

are still big, Yerke said.