School board has new principal

David Brooks, retired police officer and 7year board member, is chosen president.David Brooks, a Newport-Mesa Unified School District board member since 1998, was chosen as the board’s new president Tuesday.

At the meeting, during which the board appointed more than 20 officers for the next year, member Martha Fluor nominated Brooks, and the other members elected him unanimously. Brooks, who has been vice president for the last year, replaced former president Serene Stokes. Linda Sneen inherited Brooks’ prior post, and Judy Franco became clerk.

After the vote, the other board members presented Stokes with a plaque and flowers in recognition of her work as president. With Brooks’ appointment, she became a regular member of the board once again.

“It’s been a great year,” Stokes told the board. “Thank you one and all for what you’ve done.”

The new officers will hold their posts for one year. Other appointments Tuesday were Franco as legislative representative, Fluor to the Coastline Regional Occupational Program Board and Tom Egan as political action representative to the Orange County School Boards Assn.

Brooks, a Costa Mesa police officer until his retirement in 1998, said he joined the school board to help the Newport-Mesa district through a difficult time. When Brooks came on board, the district had suffered recent financial troubles and was in the midst of selecting a new superintendent.

“I just wanted to make a real difference, and I felt one of the biggest things to do was get on the board,” Brooks said.

All three of Brooks’ daughters attended Costa Mesa schools, and his wife was a frequent Parent Teacher Assn. president. He said her involvement in the school community inspired him to serve local education after retirement. Brooks’ term on the school board will expire in 2008.

Under Stokes’ leadership over the last year, the school board has passed its second strategic plan and overseen the Measure F school bond, which will modernize campuses throughout the district. Stokes said she was most proud of the bond measure and Project ASK, a federally-funded program for at-risk students that is expected to launch this winter.

“We’ve worked hard this year putting a lot of systems in place,” said Stokes, who joined the board in 1994 and whose current term will end next year. “We wrote our goals and objectives, and we’re teaching toward not only the state standards, but also the district’s goals and objectives.”

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