Deal means more local ESL and GED courses
Adult education students in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District will get more course offerings and services this fall under an agreement the board of trustees approved Tuesday.
Starting in the 2016-17 school year, the adult education program will be managed by the Huntington Beach Adult School, which belongs to the Huntington Beach Union High School District. Courses still will be offered at the Barbot Educational Support Services and Teaching Center in Costa Mesa.
Newport-Mesa’s adult education program, open to anyone 18 or older, currently offers four English as a Second Language morning classes and a high school diploma program in which students take independent-study classes they need to obtain a diploma.
There used to be a wider selection that included a GED preparation program, citizenship classes, computer courses and ESL classes in the evening for those who work during the day.
Large program cuts were made in 2008 as a result of the national economic recession, and course offerings have been further reduced since then, according to Vanessa Galey, the district’s director of special projects.
Under the new agreement, adult education will get back some of what it lost years ago, such as evening ESL classes and the GED program.
Instructors for those classes in the fall will come from the Huntington Beach Adult School.
“For years, money came directly from the California Department of Education to the school district to fund the adult education program,” said Susan Astarita, Newport-Mesa’s chief academic officer. “When we went into the Great Recession, the state department made a decision not to fund certain programs, and adult ed was one of them.”
Currently, the program serves about 120 students in the ESL classes and 40 in the high school diploma program. The ESL and diploma students are led by only two teachers in adult education.
As a result of Assembly Bill 86 in 2013, the Newport-Mesa and Huntington Beach Union districts are sorted into the Coast Adult Education Consortium so school districts could regionally improve adult education services.
The consortium consists of three K-12 districts, three community colleges, the Orange County Department of Education and the Coastline Regional Occupational Program.
The agreement with Huntington Beach Union also will enable Newport-Mesa’s adult education program to offer counseling to students for social, emotional, career and college needs.
Other than purchasing books and other class materials, there’s no cost for students to take adult education courses at the BESST Center.
The registration period for fall classes is scheduled to begin Sept. 6. Those interested must register in person at the BESST Center, 2045 Meyer Place.
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Twitter: @AlexandraChan10
