Board welcomes new superintendent

The following is from the July 13 meeting of the Laguna Beach Unified School District Board of Education meeting.

Board members welcomed the new superintendent, Sherine Smith, to her first school board meeting. Smith thanked the board for their warm welcome and support thus far, and said she hopes to “stay on the path” the district is on in terms of setting goals and making accomplishments to the educational system.

Raising the bar on nutrition

Norma Shelton, assistant superintendent of business services, announced that the district is on its way to devising a healthier meal plan in the cafeterias for next year. The drawbacks, she said, are that it’s costly to buy organic and healthy foods, which could mean a 75-cent increase in school lunches.

“We still need to work out the dollars,” she said, “but we must make it abundantly clear to parents that higher nutrition will mean higher costs for lunch.”

Board President and avid cook Ketta Brown argued that a price can’t be put on children’s health and nutrition, and hopes the new program won’t deter parents from buying it.

Acceptance of gifts

The board received two donations totaling $3,616.56, with $3416.56 coming from Laguna Beach High School’s PTA and a $200 personal family donation.

Ratification of certified payroll

The board approved the ratification of certified payroll in June in the amount of $2,659,922.89.