Del Mar Union School District Board changes meetings to twice a month

Starting in February, the Del Mar Union School District board will meet twice per month instead of once.

Under the new schedule, meetings will be held at 5:45 p.m. on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month at Del Mar Hills Academy.

The one exception is February when the meetings will be held Feb. 10 and 17 to accommodate parent/teacher conference week.

Superintendent Sharon McClain said that the board only met once a month twice last year, in July and November. The board met three times a month on four occasions in 2009, and in June met four times. So far in 2010, the board has met four times.

“We’re hopeful we can have just two meetings a month,” McClain said. “Agendas can be carefully planned and we won’t have to have as many special meetings.”

The hope is also that meetings can be shorter and not keep people away from their families so late at night, Trustee Doug Perkins said.

The Jan. 27 meeting started nearly an hour late and lasted until 11 p.m.

President Comischell Rodriguez said she recently attended a San Dieguito Union High School board meeting with an equally long agenda and it was over in an hour and 15 minutes. She hopes her fellow trustees can be similarly effective.

The board’s discussion about changing its meeting schedule took close to 30 minutes.