Irvine Unified School District

Four candidates are running for three at-large seats on the Irvine Unified School District Board of Trustees in the Nov. 5 election. Thomas J. Burnham Age: 37. Occupation: Human resources consultant for Thomas Burnham Co. Background: Bachelor's degree in economics, has served as chairman of YMCA, member of UCI Chancellor's Club, Woodbridge Village Assn. Facility and Finance Assn.

Irvine police are searching for a man they say lured a young girl to his car and then exposed himself to her. The 6-year-old was walking home from school with two older siblings about 1:45 p.m. near Deerfield and Yale avenues, according to a statement from Irvine police. As she trailed behind her siblings, a car pulled up to the curb and the driver started talking to her, asking where she went to school and where she lived, police said. He then allegedly asked her if she'd "seen this" and exposed himself to her as she looked in the open passenger-side window.

Irvine Unified School District trustees recently approved a three-year contract for teachers that will guarantee them a 2.5% salary increase this year, retroactive to July 1. Next year, teachers' salaries are expected to increase by more than 3%. The final year's raises have yet to be determined.

Prompted by a family's allegation that they were forced to shower teachers with lavish gifts so their autistic son would get the care he needed, Irvine schools trustees voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt a policy that encourages students and families to write personal notes and letters of appreciation to district employees instead of giving them presents.

Irvine Unified School District board member Hank Adler was elected president at the panel's annual organizational meeting this week. Adler takes the gavel from outgoing president Margie Wakeham. Board member Mike Regele was elected clerk of the board.

School funding -- A March 9 editorial said that two votes in recent years to raise taxes for the Irvine Unified School District fell far short of the two-thirds required for passage. A 2000 measure failed by a 64.3%-to-35.7% margin, and a 1999 measure failed 62.8% to 37.2%.

The Irvine Unified School District has hired 130 new teachers--full and part time--for the 1997-98 school year. District board member Susan Long said 11 of the new teachers are district graduates.

* Residents in the Rancho Santa Margarita community vote on cityhood status today and decide who would fill five council seats. Elsewhere, voters will decide school bond measures in Santa Ana unified and Capistrano Unified school districts and a tax levy in Irvine Unified School District. One board seat is up for election in the Orange Unified School District. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The Irvine Unified School District will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for the education of a severely autistic child whose parents said they were forced to lavish expensive gifts on district staff to ensure he received proper schooling, according to the settlement agreement released Thursday. In addition, the Orange County Grand Jury is looking into the matter and has requested the settlement agreement from the district.

The trouble with settling a legal spat is that it usually turns out the lights on what really happened. And we badly need the lights turned on in what has become a most peculiar case in the Irvine Unified School District. It's one of those situations in which no scenario makes much sense to me, but something happened, and I'm having a hard time coming up with a harmless explanation.

Settling a complaint by parents who said they were forced to lavish $100,000 worth of gifts on school personnel to ensure that their severely autistic son received proper care, the Irvine Unified school board voted unanimously Tuesday to spend an unspecified amount of money on the child's educational needs. The Board of Trustees also voted to consider creating a policy restricting gifts to teachers and other employees.

A couple who contended they were forced to spend $100,000 in gifts on school employees to ensure proper care for their autistic son have settled a claim against the Irvine Unified School District, according to a district spokesman and the family's attorney. Neither side would disclose terms of the settlement, which must be approved by the school board. "The family is pleased," said attorney Paul M. Roberts, who represents parents Thomas and Liya Lin.

A plan to scan the fingerprints of 2,200 Irvine high school students to ease lunch lines was scrapped this week after angry parents argued it would violate teens' privacy rights. A spokesman for the Irvine Unified School District said district administrators had been unaware of University High School's proposal and had halted its implementation. "This is not something we will be using at our schools," said Ian Hanigan, district spokesman.

To get proper schooling for their severely autistic son, an Irvine couple say they were forced to shower employees at his elementary school with diamond jewelry, Coach bags, Chanel perfume and other lavish gifts worth a total of $100,000, according to a legal claim filed this month.

The Irvine Co. has donated $2.5 million to improve science education in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, the company announced. The gift will enable the district to hire additional teachers over the next decade.

Gwen E. Gross was named superintendent of the Irvine Unified School District, it was announced Tuesday. Gross, who will begin her new job Sept. 1, has previously served as superintendent in Manhattan Beach, Beverly Hills, Ojai and Hermosa Beach. Gross was recently selected Superintendent of the Year by Pepperdine University, where she has taught for a decade. Gross succeeds Dean Waldfogel, who announced his retirement midway through the past school year.