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Marina to Explore Independence Marina City Councilman Michael Morrison has announced a campaign to secede from the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District (MPUSD). Morrison wants to initiate a feasibility study that would show whether the city can afford to divorce itself from the school district. he wants the question put to a vote of city residents.

The MPUSD had been struggling with major financial problems. The school board faces $7.3 million in budget cuts as well as four school closures. On March 5, a $158 million school bond failed. The measure would have provided money for Marina to build its own high school.

Without the passage of the bond, approximately 700 Marina students continue to be bused to classes at Monterey and Seaside High Schools.

About a month ago, the city council approved the development of more than 1,000 homes in Abrams Park, on the former Fort Ord. Although it will be a few years before those homes are occupied, there is an expected increase in the number of new families.

"Obviously, the school system is not equipped to handle that," Morrison says.

Interim MPUSD Superintendent Bob Riefe says although he''s heard rumors he was unaware of the nascent "de-unification" effort in Marina. Such separations have happened before in California, but eventually require state approval, Riefe says.

Private Schools Get Tech Grants

Robert Louis Stevenson school, the Pebble Beach private academy, was among the schools in Monterey County that received awards of federal grant money last week to install technology upgrades and wiring for Internet access.

The announcement of awards through the E-Rate (or Education-Rate program) came from Rep. Sam Farr''s office.

The stated purpose of the program is to bring Internet access to poor schools. A school gets a discount of 20 to 90 percent "based on the poverty level in the local community."

Though Pebble Beach has managed to eradicate poverty within its confines, its Robert Louis Stevenson School secured $11,515. Nine other public and private schools were awarded federal funds, including Palma High School, which was awarded $5,289. The Soledad Unified School District won $89,110 and Salinas Union High School District was awarded $24,513.

According to Farr''s office, private schools with endowments of less than $50 million are eligible for the program. The Stevenson School has an endowment of $11.5 million, according to the development office. It has a capital campaign underway with the goal of raising $26.5 million. So far $23 million has been raised.

Fishing Season

Monterey city officials are digging for dirt on the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District (MPWMD).

On May 28, Monterey and the other cities within the district made good on their threats and filed a lawsuit against the district. In a May 9 public records request, Deborah Mall, Monterey''s assistant City Attorney, demanded that the MPWMD hand over all emails sent between water board members, district staff and district attorneys.

"Basically, we''re looking for general information," Mall says. "The flow of information between directors and the water district."

Ernesto Avila, MPWMD''s general manager, said he doesn''t know what city officials are hoping to find.

"The District will work diligently to comply with the City of Monterey''s request," he writes in a letter to Mall, confirming the MPWMD''s receipt of the request. Avila asked the city to "narrow the scope" of the request by telling MPWMD what it is looking for.

The lawsuit, filed jointly by Carmel, Del Rey Oaks, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Sand City and Seaside, contends that the water district violated the California Environmental Quality Act when it banned water credit transfers. The lawsuit asks the court to set aside the ban until the district conducts an environmental review.

MPWMD Attorney David Laredo has said that the ban on water credit transfers does not constitute a "project," and therefore does not require an environmental study under state law.

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Andrew Scutro, Jessica Lyons