Fountain Valley Unified School District

The Fountain Valley Unified School District has approved the lease of a portable building for the Extended School Program at William T. Newland Elementary. The addition will allow the before- and after-school child care program, which is offered at every elementary school, to be self-contained, free up classroom space and allow for the program's summer camp to be held at the site.

The Fountain Valley Unified School District has approved the lease of a portable building for the Extended School Program at William T. Newland Elementary. The addition will allow the before- and after-school child care program, which is offered at every elementary school, to be self-contained, free up classroom space and allow for the program's summer camp to be held at the site.

After working a year without a contract, Fountain Valley teachers have reached a tentative contract agreement with the Fountain Valley Unified School District, a spokesman for the teachers union said Tuesday. Neither union representatives nor district officials would disclose specifics of the agreement until union members vote on the proposal. The union was scheduled to consider the contract proposal later Tuesday.

About 100 supporters, many of them children, held a candlelight vigil Monday night outside the home of Jeffrey Kent Atkinson, the Huntington Beach elementary school teacher accused of molesting six of his students. "We are here to show our support," said Sam Collins, one of the vigil's organizers and a family friend whose children attend school with Atkinson's children. "We just know the type of man he is. My kids have spent evenings here, and I trust him completely."

About 100 supporters, many of them children, held a candlelight vigil Monday night outside the home of Jeffrey Kent Atkinson, the Huntington Beach elementary school teacher accused of molesting six of his students. "We are here to show our support," said Sam Collins, one of the vigil's organizers and a family friend whose children attend school with Atkinson's children. "We just know the type of man he is. My kids have spent evenings here, and I trust him completely."

The Fountain Valley School District Board of Trustees Thursday delayed a decision on whether to accept the county's settlement offer involving the district's $5.4 million in the frozen investment pool. Trustees said they could not vote on the proposed settlement because the board had received a copy of the agreement only hours earlier. "We needed more time to read it," said board President Catherine Hacker.

Fountain Valley school teachers will receive a 2.57% salary increase under their new contract, officials of the Fountain Valley Unified School District announced Thursday. The teachers had been working without a contract for nearly a year. Their contract, which is retroactive to July 1, 1989, also provides for a one-time $400 payment to each employee "in recognition of the dramatic increase to out-of-pocket health care costs," the district said in a statement.

A Huntington Beach elementary school teacher was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of molesting youngsters on campus, police said. Jeffrey Kent Atkinson, 53, of Laguna Niguel was charged with six felony counts of child molestation. Officials said the alleged abuses involved children ages 8 to 10 at William T. Newland School during the 1997-98 school year. Police would not say how many incidents or how many children they think were involved.

The Fountain Valley Unified School District trustees have agreed to allow Southern California Edison officials to test electromagnetic fields generated by high-tension power lines near at least one school site. Although several board members said they do not want to make decisions based on the measurements, they followed Supt. Ruben Ingram's recommendation to allow the tests in case future research proves that electromagnetic fields cause health problems.

The Fountain Valley School District Board of Trustees Thursday delayed a decision on whether to accept the county's settlement offer involving the district's $5.4 million in the frozen investment pool. Trustees said they could not vote on the proposed settlement because the board had received a copy of the agreement only hours earlier. "We needed more time to read it," said board President Catherine Hacker.

After working a year without a contract, Fountain Valley teachers have reached a tentative contract agreement with the Fountain Valley Unified School District, a spokesman for the teachers union said Tuesday. Neither union representatives nor district officials would disclose specifics of the agreement until union members vote on the proposal. The union was scheduled to consider the contract proposal later Tuesday.