New president Steven Llanusa led the December 7 meeting of the Claremont Unified School District’s board of education. Outgoing president David Nemer reverted to being a regular trustee, while Hilary LaConte replaced Llanusa as vice president.

The board was notified by CUSD the district would no longer be able to benefit from a piggyback bid for modular classrooms — permanent structures built off-site — to replace old portable classrooms. CUSD would have been able to take advantage of existing pricing for the buildings, but the Los Angeles County Office of Education informed the district that piggyback bids were intended for more temporary structures, and advised Claremont to make a regular bid.

Assistant superintendent of business services Lisa Shoemaker does not expect the normal bidding to cause a delay in construction, but said the district is “anticipating as much as 15 to 20 percent” more in costs.

Measure G projects updated

The district updated the board on school projects funded by Measure G, the $58 million general obligation bond passed by voters last year.

New roofing is complete district-wide, and the air conditioning at El Roble Intermediate School and Claremont High School will be replaced over winter break.

The district also unveiled proposed schematics of new pools at El Roble and CHS. Shoemaker said a concept for the CHS music building is forthcoming, and plans for a CHS student center are receiving staff input.

CHS gym and restroom constructions are underway, Shoemaker said. The flooring has already been installed. Shoemaker did not respond to a request for comment about how CHS gym construction has impacted rallies, events and sports teams this semester.

Student Achievement report

Mountain View Elementary School presented the results of its Single Plan for Student Achievement report, which measure how well students did in meeting state English Language Arts and math standards. Unlike other schools in the district, most of which failed to meet the academic goals set the previous year, Mountain View saw students exceed both English and math goals last school year.

The school hoped for a 7.7 percent increase in the number of students meeting English standings and got 10 percent, for a total of 48.3 percent. Mountain View was targeting an 8.6 percent increase in students who met math standards, but saw an 11.4 percent jump instead. Nearly 43 percent of Mountain View students met state math standards last year.

The school hopes to build on its success this year, and is aiming for 53.3 percent of students to meet English standards and 48 percent to meet math standards.

“It sounds like you’re really creating a healthy environment for learning,” board member Beth Bingham commented.