La Jolla schools group names board members

The La Jolla Cluster Association is moving forward with organizing a group to advocate for the community’s five public schools.

Since their public meeting in late January to explain their concept, the organizers behind the group have met with parents, teachers and principals to explain how they hope to improve La Jolla’s schools. The five schools have picked parents and teachers to be members of the group’s board. In addition, the principals of the schools will also serve on the board, said Sharon Jones, one of the founders of the group.

The group had an informal “meet and greet” earlier this month and will hold the first formal board meeting in April.

One of their first actions, Jones said, will be to try “to reverse a recent action by the San Diego Unified School District that resulted in the loss of $174,000 from the 2009-2010 budgets of the five La Jolla public schools.”

The board also will create committees to handle specific issues, she added.

They are gathering information on what those cuts mean and will present them in April, she added.

The teacher representatives are Ginny LaRowe and Laura McCord, Bird Rock Elementary; Debbie Balmat and Stephanie Cole, La Jolla Elementary; Brenda Baniaga and Erika Saldivar, Torrey Pines Elementary; Demian Hartmann and Suzanne Serafin, Muirlands Middle; and Malcolm Jarvis, La Jolla High.

The parent representatives are Laurie Barnet and Lisa Bonebrake, Bird Rock Elementary; Sharon Jones and Fran Shimp, La Jolla Elementary; Missy Coleman and John May, Torrey Pines Elementary; Alison Lee and Sherry Macelli, Muirlands Middle; and Natalie Mann and Maureen Weber, La Jolla High.