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High school to hire full-time career counselor as ROP discussions continue

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The Laguna Beach Unified School District board last week approved a new counseling position that officials say is crucial to addressing students’ increased interest in technical careers and employers’ desire to fill those types of jobs.

The opening is for a non-credentialed college and career counselor who will focus on subjects often covered in ROP classes like forensic science and sports medicine. The position will work closely with the high school’s three credentialed counselors.

The counseling position was created as Laguna and Capistrano Unified school districts continue revising an agreement for their Regional Occupational Program.

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The high school had a part-time specialist focused on technical careers who was paid through ROP funding, but because the state no longer earmarks funding specifically for ROP, Capistrano opted to take advantage of the greater flexibility and spend its money elsewhere.

The funding change doesn’t affect Laguna since the district receives a majority of its money from property taxes, but because of the districts’ cooperative arrangement, Laguna was forced to make a change as well.

The new full-time position at Laguna Beach High pays $42,440 to $51,560, depending on experience, according to a district staff report.

The former part-time position was held by Dawn Hunnicutt, who was hired as an English teacher at the high school.

“[Career technical] education can no longer exist as a separate educational alternative,” the staff report says. “It must be woven into the fabric of our educational delivery system.”

Laguna and Capistrano officials have spent the last several months amending their joint powers agreement for the South Coast ROP, which offers career technical education courses such as audio and music production, forensic science, sports medicine and automotive repair to students 16 years and older and adults. Classes are held at six Capistrano high schools and Laguna Beach High.

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A change this year in state funding called the Local Control Funding Formula contributed to a leadership shakeup at South Coast ROP.

Capistrano administrators have taken over top-level executive roles while streamlining certain duties such as attendance tracking, payroll and facilities maintenance, said ROP Executive Director Pati Romo.

Twelve employees were laid off because of the reorganization, Romo said.

Capistrano paid $2.9 million into ROP in the 2014-15 school year but cut that amount to $1.3 million for the 2015-16 year in favor of allotting more money for regular academic advising and counseling services.

Laguna will contribute $139,000 to the program next year, the same amount it paid last school year.

Laguna officials say their students still have access to the types of ROP classes offered in previous years. The continuity was a top priority for board President Ketta Brown.

“I want to maintain access [to classes] for the kids,” Brown said.

One of the key remaining issues is deciding whether to keep the current ROP board structure to two members each from Capistrano and Laguna or create a 3-2 governing team.

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Last spring the ROP board discussed expanding to nine voting members — with seven trustees from Capistrano and two from Laguna — but now it appears to favor a smaller group.

Capistrano’s board is scheduled to discuss the tentative agreement, which includes provisions for opting out of the partnership, on Aug. 12, Romo said.

Laguna board members must approve the agreement before the ROP board votes on the matter.

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