Coast Unified adds four water refilling stations

The Coast Unified School District resolved one issue (water quality) and reversed direction on another (parent-coaches) at trustees’ regular meeting Thursday, March 10.

Board members also heard a worrisome report on the number of failing grades high school students are receiving.

The issue of water quality had been highlighted at a previous meeting in a presentation by valedictorian Xue DiMaggio, who suggested that the district install two water-bottle refilling stations at Coast Union High School. The suggestion came in response to water tests by students that showed total dissolved solids in school drinking water exceeded EPA recommendations of 500 milligrams per liter (mg/l).

The district went one step further. After conducting its own tests, which found the highest reading was 670 mg/l, the district decided to install four refilling stations: the two DiMaggio had suggested at Coast Union and one each at the grammar school and middle school cafeterias.

Victoria Schumacher, district superintendent, said a consultant hired by the district did tests and found “low levels of copper at some locations” and no lead at any of the locations tested.

“Our water is safe, yet it has a bad taste,” Schumacher said in explaining the decision to add the stations, which will be funded in part by $3,000 from the Cambria Lions Club.

The district will pay for maintenance, filters and replacement parts, Schumacher said.

The district also addressed another complaint involving water: one involving a foul odor in one of the restrooms on campus. Schumacher said a community member came forward and told the district a sewer line had been installed improperly during a 1999 renovation project. She said the district planned to drain the septic system at the end of the month and fix the problem.

Coaches

The district reversed a decision at Coast Union that barred parents of student-athletes from serving as coaches.

The policy had been institued during the fall by athletic director Thom Holt, who argued that “you cannot be fair while being a parent coach.” However, it stirred opposition by some who argued that the district’s small population left it with a limited pool of potential coaches.

Among those affected by the decision was Chris Corbet, who had been told he could not continue as an assistant softball coach because his daughter, Ani, played on the team.

After hearing public opposition to the policy, Schumacher said, district and site administrators decided to reverse the policy decision immediately.

“Parents may be hired as paid coaches as well as volunteer coaches going forward,” she said.

Grades

Concerns over student achievement at Coast Union were raised by student board representative Anna Harrington, who quoted a figure of 180 failing grades for students there.

Coast Union has an enrollment of about 250 students.

Schumacher said after the meeting that she didn’t know how those grades were distributed: fairly evenly over a broad cross-section of students or concentrated among a smaller group. She said she would investigate the situation and report back to the board.

Harrington also passed along concerns she had heard from students about a delay in the district’s purchase of Chromebook laptop computers.

“Our plan is to move forward with the Chromebooks, but we just wanted to take a closer look,” Schumacher said. “It’s a very big purchase, and we wanted to make sure everybody was comfortable going forward.”

CTE grant

Middle school teacher Dan Hartzell presented a report on the district’s use of Career Technical Education grant money.

Hartzell said the district is using the money to build “a collaborative environment in the computer lab” and transform classrooms “to mimic more of a workplace-like setting.”

This approach, he said, is modeled for students using activities such as a field trip to Hollywood Motion Picture Experience, a full movie-production studio in Creston run by Todd Fisher, the brother of actress Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia from the “Star Wars” motion pictures). Hartzell said the studio is looking for employees who can work together to find innovative approaches and solutions — an approach he’s emphasizing in his own classrooms.

Coast is receiving $423,000 over three years via a College and Career Pathways Trust grant, Hartzell said, and $256,00 over three years via a Career Technology Education Incentive grant.

Public comment

▪ Community member Elizabeth Weatherly criticized the district’s policy on bullying, calling for a “progressive discipline plan” so that “discipline isn’t left in the hands of one administrator.”

▪ Former Lions Club President Andy Zinn urged the board to focus on improving student achievement in math and science: “We really need more help in math,” he said. “We need to add another teacher in math.”

This story was originally published March 16, 2016 at 9:29 AM with the headline "Coast Unified adds four water refilling stations."