Supt. talks layoffs, power

Newport-Mesa Unified Supt. Jeffrey Hubbard said Wednesday night that the school district and its curriculum would persevere despite financial shortcomings stacked against it by the state.

Nearly 120 positions have been slated for elimination — almost half of them elementary school teachers — to shore up a $12-million shortfall from the state

But the district will press on and stick to its core mission, which is educating the children, Hubbard said.

Addressing an audience of nearly 40 people at the Newport Beach Yacht Club, during the monthly Speak Up Newport meeting, Hubbard said his job is frustrating at times because in California it’s hard to determine who runs the schools — whether it’s Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the state Department of Education, the State Board of Education or the federal government.

It’s very difficult to run a school district, Hubbard said, with so many other entities involved.

So many of the rules and regulations in the district are set by one of these four entities, he said.

“You have that old expression,” he said, ‘He who has the gold rules.’ And as long as Sacramento is doling out the dollars, they’re going to have a lot of power to dictate what goes on all the time.”

He added: “Until that changes, if it ever does, Sacramento is going to have the power.”