New Group to Aid Corona del Mar High

A Corona del Mar High School parents group will announce on Monday the establishment of a foundation to raise money for improvements to the campus, including a 500-seat theater and a technology center.

The Corona del Mar High School Foundation was the brainchild of parents who felt that the school had deteriorated in recent years as programs have been canceled and repairs put on hold because of budget restraints.

“The last time the school was remodeled was in 1972 and it looks pretty terrible,” said Kimberly Rothwell, spokeswoman for the foundation. “We felt that with all the problems with the embezzlement and then the bankruptcy that the school district could not do anything about it.”

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District’s finances suffered two major blows in recent years.

In 1992, a former district financial officer was convicted of embezzling $3.7 million from the district. The district lost about $8 million when the county declared bankruptcy late in 1994.

Rothwell said that the goal of the foundation is to raise at least $1 million to start work on the new technology center.

Parents and the public are invited to meeting at 7 p.m. Monday in the boys’ gymnasium of Corona del Mar High School to hear about the foundation and how they may participate. The school is at 2101 Eastbluff Drive in Newport Beach.