Laguna Beach Unified School District

These are the candidates running for three seats on the Laguna Beach Unified School District Board of Trustees in the Nov. 6 election. Incumbent Harvey Triebwasser did not file for reelection. Tim Davis Age: 48 Occupation: Incumbent/ owner, Laguna Print Background: A 35-year Laguna Beach resident. Taught for 14 years in the Laguna Beach Unified School District and has one child enrolled at Thurston Middle School. Issues: Wants to continue district's academic and financial goals.

Lying on the floor face up, staff and faculty from the Laguna Beach Unified School District concentrated on getting it right. "Think of yourself as a ball or a rocking chair," said Jordi Mas, fitness guru, instructing them in an exercise called roll-like-a-ball. "This is a movement that lengthens while you strengthen." Next was the pelvic lift, in which hips are slowly angled up. "Think of your spine as a string of pearls," Mas said. "Only one pearl can lift at a time."

When she first began talking to Laguna Beach students about giving up television for one week, Maria Globus said they responded--to put it simply--with "horror." Another parent, Carole Moore, got a similar reaction. "A lot of them at the very beginning said, 'No way. Excuse me.' It was like total rejection," she said.

Laguna Beach voters gave a resounding yes to a $39-million bond measure Tuesday, while a similar bond issue in Huntington Beach fell short of passage. The Laguna Beach Unified School District's bond issue captured an overwhelming 80% of the vote. The Huntington Beach City School District's $25-million bond measure garnered 62.1%, short of the two-thirds needed.

PTA president Barbara Norton always knew she had a lot of buddies at the close-knit Top of the World Elementary School. But the loyalty of her school friends became overwhelmingly clear after Norton's home on Caribbean Way was destroyed more than two weeks ago in a firestorm. Since the Oct.

Even in this city, which is no stranger to melodrama, the school district's agonizing fall from grace over the past week made amazing theater: A school board member emerges after midnight from a tense closed-door session in tears; a once-vaunted superintendent is jeered and publicly humiliated; a powerful parents' group threatens to withhold a crucial donation until school officials regain the group's trust.

This week SchoolPower, the foundation that raises money for Laguna Beach's four public schools, distributed $39,529 from its recent Community Campaign to benefit every teacher in the Laguna Beach Unified School District. This year's Community Campaign raised more than $260,000 for the Laguna Beach Unified School District. All donors have the opportunity to direct as much as 20% of their donations to a teacher and program of their choice.

The Board of Education will meet tonight to discuss earmarking more than $73,000 to purchase computer programs and train school staff on new student record software, designed to keep accurate information on grades and attendance, officials said. The board meets at 6:30 p.m. at the Laguna Beach Unified School District Board Room, 550 Blumont St. Information: (949) 497-7701.

Voters go to the polls Tuesday to decide a City Council race in Orange and bond measures for the Huntington Beach City School District and the Laguna Beach Unified School District. Voting hours are 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. To find your polling place, call the county registrar of voters office at (714) 567-7600. Or sign on to the registrar's Web site, http://http://www.oc.ca.gov/election and click on the "Polling Places" button on the left side of the screen.

The Huntington Beach City School District hasn't had a school-bond election in nearly 40 years. And the Laguna Beach Unified School District has never had one in its more than 120-year history. Both streaks will end June 5 when voters in those districts go to the polls in special elections. The $25-million Huntington Beach City School District bond measure faces minor grass-roots opposition. The $39-million Laguna Beach bond measure has no organized opposition.

This week SchoolPower, the foundation that raises money for Laguna Beach's four public schools, distributed $39,529 from its recent Community Campaign to benefit every teacher in the Laguna Beach Unified School District. This year's Community Campaign raised more than $260,000 for the Laguna Beach Unified School District. All donors have the opportunity to direct as much as 20% of their donations to a teacher and program of their choice.

The Laguna Beach Unified School District board postponed a decision Tuesday on forming two committees to work on proposals for general-obligation bonds to fix aging schools. The board will now decide on creating a citizens' oversight board and a site-based, project-review committee in December or January, said Darrin J. Reed, district administrative assistant.

More limited-English speakers enrolled in this year's Laguna Beach Unified School District program for English-language learners than in previous years, according to a presentation last week by summer school teacher David Dixon. The summer program, which was held at Thurston Middle School, taught reading and math skills to 22 students in fourth through seventh grades. Dixon said the program helps teachers get to know incoming students who may need extra help learning English.

Continuing this year's trend, schools in the Saddleback Valley and in Laguna Beach managed to improve already impressive scores on the standardized Stanford 9 test. By honing in on lackluster spelling scores and attempting to fill in gaps in students' knowledge of mathematics, the 2,500-student Laguna Beach Unified School District saw scores jump in most grades and subjects tested. Elementary mathematics scores went through the roof and ranged between the 82nd and 90th percentiles districtwide.