With 60,500 gallons of water leaking from the McGaugh School pool every day, and the nearby tennis courts becoming unstable, the Los Alamitos Unified School District and the City of Seal Beach are trying to determine what to do, and who will pay for it. Nobody seems to know how long the pool has been leaking, but it must be costing the city a—shall we say—a pool full of cash.

After a successful used equipment sale and poker night (See related article below), the Los Alamitos High School Baseball Booster Club is readying their biggest event yet—a golf tournament complete with Los Al MLB baseball legends. As Los Alamitos High School head baseball coach Aaron Moore works the put in place a top notch coaching staff, the Boosters Club is busy raising money to help renovate the playing fields.

About two years ago, the Los Alamitos Unified School District began feeling the impact of California’s financial mess. As a result, some teachers were laid off and class sizes were increased modestly. But, the arrival of one time federal stimulus funds allowed the district to minimize the pain. That was then, this is now.

With this year’s homecoming dances in the history books and winter formals on their way, schools must continue to contend with the over-sexual dance moves that students use. Los Alamitos High School, like many others, uses a contract/ permission slip that the students must sign so they know there are limits.

By: Juan DeJesus, Guest Writer Los Alamitos High School declared ten high school hopefuls nominees for the upcoming Homecoming Crowning. Every year the school votes for who they think should be nominated & this year the brightest & most deserving were chosen.

Additional reporting contributed by Isabelle Carasso.

In a district wide decision, the Los Alamitos Unified School District will not allow students to view President Obama's back to school motivational speech to students. Even though the historical speech, today at 9:00 am local time, has been described by the White House as not a policy speech, the district will not allow students to view it. The text of the President's prepared remarks are at the end of this article.

Earlier this week, the California Department of Education released the results of the statewide testing for 2009. The California Standards Tests (CSTs) are standards-based tests that measure the achievement of state content standards in English-language arts, mathematics, science, and history-social science. Los Alamitos High School beat the averages in all categories, while McAuliff Middle School and Oak Middle School fell well short.

The Los Alamitos Unified School District's Board Of Education held a special board meeting last night to consider the continuing financial shakeout in response to the recently passed state budget. The most immediate affect was the passage of a resolution to layoff 3 more bus drivers. These layoffs are in addition to the increases in bus fees, now $624 per student per year. AT the same time, parents are receiving solicitations asking for contributions of $245 per student to help cover the budget shortages.

You've got to meet this guy!

Dr. Grant Litfin has assumed the reins of Los Alamitos High School, replacing the retired Kelly Godfrey. Litfin comes to Los Al from Torrance Unified School District where he served as a teacher, assistant principal and principal. Litfin, who grew up outside of Minneapolis, is not lacking in a wide diversity of high school experiences. He said "I actually still have our school record for lettering--I lettered 27 times in high school."

Los Alamitos High School head baseball coach Aaron Moore, himself a recent hire, announced the appointment of Don Olmstead as the school’s new junior varsity coach. Coach Moore joined the Los Al baseball staff as head coach in July of this year, replacing long time head coach Mark Clabough. See our exclusive interview with Coach Moor under related articles below.

At a special board meeting on November 9, called for the purpose of considering a charter school application, the School Board of the Los Alamitos Unified School District voted 5/0 to deny the petition. Citing numerous deficiencies in the application, district administration questioned the likelihood of success by the Global Tides @ Orange County Charter School. The petitioner, Marco Salazart, told OC180NEWS.com he plans to refile a corrected petition and open the school by next year.

The California Department of Education today released the latest state school testing data. This data, officially known as the 2009 Academic Performance Index (API), is based on the testing from last spring. Once again, Weaver is the star of the Los Alamitos unified School District.

Last week the California Department of Education released the results of the statewide testing for 2009. The California Standards Tests (CSTs) are standards-based tests which, for elementary schools, measure the achievement of state content standards in English-language arts, mathematics, and science. Once again, with scores already way above district , county, and statewide averages, the results at Weaver Elementary improved--proving that even with scores in the 90 percentages, they can still get better.

With class size increases coming as a result of cuts in state funding, the local educational foundation has launched a campaign to raise up to $2 million. The Los Alamitos Unified School District Educational Foundation mailed letters to all district parents last week requesting contributions of $225.00 per student. (Editor's note: this amount was incorrectly stated as $245.00 in a previous article).

The Los Angeles Times reported the hiring of Coach Moore with this headline: "Los Alamitos has pulled off a coaching coup, hiring long-time Riverside Poly Coach Aaron Moore to take over its baseball program." Your editors interviewed Coach Moore on Wednesday of this week and now there is an opportunity for parents, friends, and members of the community to meet in person the new man on the field.

At the Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, June 23, the board adopted a deficit budget for next year even as state funding remains in doubt. The district will make ends meet by drawing down reserves by $3,899,602 and transferring balances between funds. The deficit and reserve draw down is needed despite the inflow of one time federal stimulus funds of $1,927,693 and assumes there are no additional reductions from the state.