What is the school board doing?

Shelley Cox

Is it me, or does it seem that we as parents and community members

need to attend every meeting regarding our local high school?

Apparently, even if we did attend all of the scheduled meetings

things would still slip through the cracks.

The dress code at Laguna Beach High School is under revision,

which I have to say should be a good thing if done properly -- I

bring this up because the latest seems such a contradiction to the

goal Laguna Beach High School is trying to achieve.

Last Wednesday, I received the following message on my telephone.

I am going to add it to the letter because the message stated it

would be posted on the school website and as of 11:30 a.m. Monday,

Feb. 2 -- it still isn’t.

12:59 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 28

“This is Nancy Blade, principal at the High School, with a message

brought to you through the support of SchoolPower.

I want to make parents aware of a positive opportunity for our

students. On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, students who are 16

years or older can pick up an application at break, lunch or after

school to be considered for an MTV program. MTV will initially select

between six to eight students from our high school. Filming will

occur 90% outside of school as it relates to getting into college,

working, family life and activities such as surfing or music lessons.

The other 10% of filming may be at school events, but those events

would be events like prom, or sporting events or the Scholarship

Night.

Filming will not occur in classrooms or during instruction.

The interest of MTV is to showcase Laguna Beach High School in a

positive light, highlighting the achievements of students or families

in the academic, athletic and social opportunities in which our

students participate. Participating students will need the consent of

their parents. Parents of students will be encouraged to participate.

District and high school administration have been discussing this

opportunity for the past several months, and on Tuesday, the board of

education approved the agreement with MTV for this pilot. MTV will

make a donation to the High School Scholarship foundation.

Representatives from MTV will be available at the district office

this week if you would like additional information. They can be

reached at (949) 497-7700, ext. 210. If you would like to read this

announcement, it has been posted to our website at

https://www.lagunabeach schools.org under upcoming events.”

MTV? Have any of you watched MTV lately? This is the network that

many homes in Laguna won’t allow their children to watch. This is the

network that endorses a lot of really inappropriate behavior for our

high-school-age students, and isn’t this the same network that

sponsored the Super Bowl halftime with the “clothing malfunction.”

Do we want MTV involved with our children, school district and

community? Come on, board of education, district, high school

administration and SchoolPower -- I find it hard to believe that it

took you “several months” to make a bad decision.

* Laguna Beach resident SHELLEY COX submitted this letter prior to

the Wednesday meeting during which the school board decided not to

participate in MTV’s filming.