School Board Meeting Wrap-Up

The following is from the May 11 meeting of the Laguna Beach Unified School District Board of Education.

Classified staff honored

A standing-room-only crowd of family members, friends and co-workers filled the board meeting room to support the 17 honorees of the third annual Recognition of Classified Service Awards, presented by Supt. Robert Fraisse.

Fraisse opened with a Mohandas Gandhi’s quote, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others,” which he said illustrated the recipients’ unwavering steadfast commitment to the district.

Clara Candelaria was recognized for more than 30 years of service; Claudia Redfern and Juner Herckt for 20 or more years; Todd Foote for 20 years; Donni Wells, Eleanor Tiner, Kristin Hauer and Claudia Cameron for 15 years; and Penny Cavazos, Erin Gerhold, Margarita and Julie Padilla, Thomas Munoz, Nick Toral, Kristine Landrum, Sarah Pearlman and Donna Todd for 10 years.

Board President Ketta Brown thanked the employees for helping to provide an outstanding educational experience for all students.

Efforts to create safe school climate

Director of Special Education Irene White introduced to the board the Positive Behavior Interventions Systems efforts, which address cyber-bullying, while counselors from each school explained their site’s individual PBIS efforts for students.

The goal of the system is to increase understanding of what the district is doing to develop positive behaviors from students, increase awareness and understanding of cyber-bullying, address legal guidelines and limitations, implement a peer assistance leadership program and explore additional options for support, White said.

The program includes such things as teaching kindness to students, intervention systems for students who violate cyber-bullying rules and making counselors available to students.