SCHOOL BOARD WRAP-UP

The following is from the Jan. 23 meeting of the Laguna Beach Unified School District Board of Education.

Healthy Kids survey update

Assistant Superintendent for Instructional Services Nancy Hubbell offered an update on last spring’s California Healthy Kids Survey, which polarized the city when it concluded that Laguna Beach teens have some of the highest incidences of tobacco, drug and alcohol use in the county.

“It’s a well designed survey with decent validity and reliability information,” Hubbell said. However, she added, different schools may treat the survey with more or less seriousness, thus potentially skewing the results.

“Survey research is notoriously difficult to conduct,” she said, but she added that the positive traits revealed by the survey were glossed over by the major media, and that compared to other schools, Laguna students felt safer, and were healthier and more well-adjusted.

She said that in order to address concerns over accuracy, there would be an enhanced effort in Spring 2008 to ensure that students understand the consequences of their test responses with regard to future policies, the impact it could have on the district’s reputation, and ultimately, the students themselves.

Employees honored

The board recognized several district employees with regard to “Continuing the Quest for Excellence Focus on Tangible and Substantive Results.”

The following people were honored:

El Morro Elementary School: Elizabeth Harris;

Top of the World Elementary School: Linda Barker;

Thurston Middle School: June Herket;

Laguna Beach High School: Peter Tiner; and

Central Office: Robert Whalen (honorary central office “employee” and former board member).

“We have the greatest here in Laguna Beach,” trustee Theresa O’Hare said. “You give and give and give daily, no matter what your job is.”