News from the March 8 Laguna Beach...

News from the March 8 Laguna Beach Unified School District Board of

Education meeting:

High school website earns accolades

The meeting commenced with awards for student achievement,

including Paul Hamera for designing Laguna Beach High School’s

website.

“Now we have our own website not aligned to the district,” high

school teacher Carolen Sadler said. “Nancy [Blade, high school

principal] and I discussed what we wanted. The design is all his. He

[Hamera] made it very user-friendly.”

Sadler said the site offers significant information in different

categories important to the school and user. A multimedia

presentation was shown of some of the highlights.

Sadler said the task this summer is to determine how grades will

be posted on the Web.

“It’s a work in progress that we’ll be fine-tuning,” Sadler said.

“It’s pretty much ready for public access.”

Retaining wall repair to commence

Construction project administrator Carl Neuhausen gave an update

on the impending repair of the cracked retaining wall at El Morro

Elementary School. Neuhausen said that the contractor would be able

to contain the work area for the project scheduled for June 27.

“I hope to at least complete the major demolition, moving soil and

landscaping and get most of the heavy work in place,” Neuhausen said.

“We will have to maintain passage [on N. Coast Highway].”

Neuhausen said he hasn’t had a kick-off meeting and is still in

the planning stage. The district is planning to develop a public

awareness campaign in the beginning of June to let residents know

this will be happening and what effects it might have on road

conditions.

Baseball field issues remain

The Laguna Beach High School baseball field remained a popular

topic of discussion for the board, who seemed frustrated and anxious

to solve the field’s problematic areas.

To prevent excess water problems on the field, Neuhausen said,

preliminary vertical drains were set around the perimeter of the

field.

Board member El Hathaway, along with Asst. Supt. Business Services

Norma Shelton, and Eric Jetta, director of facilities and grounds,

turned on the baseball field’s lights and found that about six to

nine lights were shining into the neighbors’ windows.

“The problem now is that some lights are not directed at the

field; they are more horizontal,” Hathaway said. “Now all the lights

will be redirected down exclusively on the field and not on the

neighbors. The plan is in place and it’s going to be taken care of.”

Board members disagreed about whether the contractors should be

paid in full, given that the field is still not functioning properly

due to the large amount of rain.

Neuhausen said time and effort have been put in to make it right

and it will take a mechanical roller to correct the problem.

In other business, the board approved a $486,000 budget to

purchase technology and science lab equipment.

Also, the board approved a motion to vote annually for as many as

eight individuals to serve as delegates to represent “Region 15,”

which includes the Laguna district, at the California School Boards

2005 Delegate Assembly. Delegates are responsible for voicing

district concerns to the board at the delegate assembly.

-- Suzie Harrison