COSTA MESA : New School Board Chief ‘Taking Stock’

Sherry Loofborrow, who has served on the Newport Mesa Unified School Board since 1981, was elected board president this week.

Loofborrow said her yearlong term, which marks the 25th anniversary of the district, will be a time of “taking stock.”

“It’s an ideal time for the district to assess itself in terms of whether or not we are really doing everything we can to give our students the information and skills that they need for the 21st Century,” said Loofborrow, a Newport Beach resident.

Another important issue facing the board is the overcrowding of elementary schools, Loofborrow said. Over the past year, board members have taken controversial votes to reopen three schools in the Corona del Mar and Estancia high school zones.

The board anticipates making decisions about reopening schools in the Costa Mesa High School zone and the Newport Harbor High School neighborhood before the summer of 1991.

Loofborrow said that the district’s population is becoming more diverse ethnically, and that one of her goals is to help students and parents see that change as a positive one.

“If I’m dedicated to anything personally, it is to make sure that everybody in the district looks upon our increasingly diverse student body as an opportunity for enrichment,” Loofborrow said. “I would like everyone to become aware that we really need to become comfortable with change and energize with change.”