School board to tackle administrative issues

NEWPORT-MESA -- The school board’s first meeting of the school year

is chock-full of administrative matters -- from routine employee

resignations to run-of-the-mill maintenance orders. Major policy issues

are noticeably absent.

Board members will be meeting in closed session prior to today’s 7

p.m. meeting -- as they have been over the past few weeks -- to discuss

potential litigation and negotiations with the district’s teachers’

union.

At the regular meeting, board members are expected to approve a

contract with the Orange County Department of Education to provide

outdoor education to Newport Mesa students.

They are also expected to approve a massive report from the district’s

facilities and operations department updating them on everything from new

sinks at Eastbluff Elementary School to roof repair at Pomona Elementary

School to painting at TeWinkle Middle School.

Board members are also expected to finalize the financing needed to

buy or rent 22 portable classrooms. The classrooms were placed at schools

around the district over the summer to accommodate smaller kindergarten

classes.

They are also expected to vote to renegotiate two financial agreements

to get more favorable interest rates, ultimately saving $200,000.

School board President Serene Stokes said she, for one, was looking

forward to a light meeting.

“Our board meetings have been so packed with stuff over the last few

months,” she said, adding that she is looking forward to turning the

board’s attention to “long-term projects.”

-- Jessica Garrison