New leader sets focus for schools

The Laguna Beach Unified School District board of trustees unanimously elected Betsy Jenkins as its president and El Hathaway as clerk on Tuesday.

Along with the search for a new superintendent, Jenkins plans to focus on the district’s “core” students — those with an average GPA who comprise the majority of the student body.

Jenkins was reelected to the board last month and is joined by new board members Ketta Brown and Theresa O’Hare.

The trio ran against Jeff Elghanayan and Kelly Cornwell in the citywide election.

Former board President Bob Whalen stepped down at the previous meeting with board member Bill Landsiedel, who temporarily filled the seat vacated upon K Turner’s death earlier this year. Landsiedel had previously indicated that he would not seek reelection.

Hathaway and Jan Vickers will continue their terms on the board.

“I hope to put my prior four years of knowledge and experience to work to continue the upward trend of our school district’s achievements,” Jenkins said Wednesday.

“This year, of course, our big focus is on our superintendent search, which we’re beginning immediately,” Jenkins said. Superintendent Theresa Daem announced that she plans to step down at the end of the current school year.

“The two other things that I’m very interested in are the International Baccalaureate program at the high school and our focus on what we’re calling the core students, who were previously called the middle students.”

The International Baccalaureate (IB), an educational program based on educational systems from around the world, and is known for its high standard of excellence and academic rigor.

It offers a different method of teaching than the Advanced Placement (AP) program, and is believed to be a good alternative for students in the GPA “middle” who may be hesitant to participate in AP classes.

“We’re really realizing this is our majority of students, and while we have a lot of programs on both the high and low ends, we’re really trying to focus on enriching and furthering their educational experiences,” Jenkins said.

She added that she appreciates that the board keeps an unofficial policy of electing those with a good deal of board experience to the presidential role, rather than banding into factions to elect someone with their agenda in mind.

“Politics doesn’t really belong in education,” she said.