School District Panel Sports New Lineup

Most of the 31 faces on the Newport-Mesa Unified School District committee that will oversee spending $163 million in bond money to renovate schools are new ones.

In fact, the only exceptions are the two Newport Harbor Chamber of Commerce representatives, Bob Haskell and Kurt Yeager, who served on the citizens committee that recommended the school bond last year.

Committee members will be responsible for making sure the Newport-Mesa Unified School District’s $110-million bond proceeds and $53 million in state matching funds are spent correctly.

Even before voters passed the bonds in June, the Board of Education developed a specific list of areas to be represented by the districtwide oversight committee, which has most of its members in place. Eleven-member school site-based committees will be formed later.

Committee members, including Mirna Burciaga, who will represent the Latino business community, are waiting for the district’s four high school zones to each choose two representatives.

Those eight citizens should be selected by the beginning of January, said Mike Fine, assistant superintendent of business services.

“We’ll set a date for January and they’ll come together and meet,” he said, adding that he would like the group in place before a project management company is chosen later that month or early February.