By McLean Grimes
Executive News Editor
The Manhattan Beach Unified School District (MBUSD) board met on Wednesday at 5 p.m. to discuss staff and family exit surveys and a district-wide student enrollment report.
The discussion items at the meeting concerned the staff and parent exit surveys low response numbers presented by Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Dr. Tom Stekol as well as an enrollment report presented by Deputy Superintendent Dr. Dawnalyn Murakawa-Leopard. Stekol first discussed staff responses to exit surveys, including what parts of the district are satisfactory and unsatisfactory to work in. Next, he showed how many students left MBUSD per grade level, as well as their reasons for leaving the district. Murakawa-Leopard then discussed the student enrollment data across each grade level in the district, which is at a slight increase.
“The response rates were pretty much the same,” said Stekol. “Even though we changed the accessibility through the platform, for both the staff and the student surveys, it was about the same.”
The meeting started with a moment of silence for the current conflict in Israel. Next, there was a performance by the Mira Costa Drama/Tech performers in the upcoming fall play, “Peter and the Starcatcher.” Following the performance, Manhattan Beach Middle School (MBMS) student Board member Tara Shivpuri and Costa senior student board members Emma Darrow and Sophia Delino updated the board on recent and upcoming activities in their schools. There were five action items on the agenda; the main action item was an approval of the platform “Swing” to coordinate substitutes to classrooms.
“We are going to open in about two and a half weeks our production of ‘Peter and the StarCatcher,’” said Drama/ Tech director Johnathan Westerburg. “This is a play that is an adaptation of some books that were written in the early 2000s, sort of like a Peter Pan origin story. There are two full-blown music numbers in it, and it’s one of the first times in the Small Theater that we’ve had a live music element, so [there will be] a small student band.”
Next, the meeting was opened to public comments. After public comments, the floor opened up for Superintendent Dr. Jonathan Bowes to give several announcements regarding upcoming events such as the AP scholar award, Skechers Pier-to-Pier walk, the Great California Shakeout drill, the upcoming “Peter and the Starcatcher” play, and Costa sophomore Mona Cho, who was recently honored at the White House.
“[Cho] is one of 15 young women leaders who were honored at the White House last week by First Lady Jill Biden in honor of International Day of the Girl,” said Bowes. “She was honored for her dedication to combatting online harassment and abuse and harm it poses to youth and teens.”
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