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Newport-Mesa Unified School District, California

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Newport-Mesa Unified School District
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Orange County, California
District details
Superintendent: Wesley Smith
# of school board members: 7
Website: Link

Newport-Mesa Unified School District is a school district in California.

Click on the links below to learn more about the school district's...

Superintendent

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 		This information is updated as we become aware of changes. Please contact us with any updates.

Wesley Smith is the superintendent of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District. Smith was appointed superintendent in September 2021. His career experience includes working for 24 years in California public education, including 13 years as a site or district leader and eight years as an educator and influencer. Smith served as the executive director of the Association of California School Administrators.[1]

Past superintendents

  • Russell Lee-Sung was the superintendent of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District from 2010 to 2021.[2] Lee-Sung's previous career experience includes working as the district's deputy superintendent and as the assistant superintendent of human resources in the Anaheim Union High School District.[3]
  • Frederick Navarro served as superintendent from 2012 to 2020.[4][5] Navarro's previous career experience included working as an assistant superintendent, principal, and director of secondary instruction.[6]

School board

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District school board consists of seven members elected by district to four-year terms.[7][8]


Elections

See also: Newport-Mesa Unified School District, California, elections

Members of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District school board are elected to four-year terms. Three or four seats are up for election on a staggered basis every even-numbered year in November.

Three seats on the board were up for general election on November 5, 2024.

Ballotpedia covered school board elections in 367 school districts in 29 states in 2024. Those school districts had a total student enrollment of 12,203,404 students. Click here to read an analysis of those elections.


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Public participation in board meetings

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District school board maintains the following policy on public testimony during board meetings:[9]


District map

School district map

Budget

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.[10]

Revenue, 2021-2022
SOURCE AMOUNT AMOUNT PER STUDENT PERCENT
Federal: $33,275,000 $1,853 7%
Local: $336,636,000 $18,742 75%
State: $79,478,000 $4,425 18%
Total: $449,389,000 $25,019
Expenditures, 2021-2022
TYPE AMOUNT AMOUNT PER STUDENT PERCENT
Total Expenditures: $389,757,000 $21,698
Total Current Expenditures: $370,389,000 $20,620
Instructional Expenditures: $211,166,000 $11,756 54%
Student and Staff Support: $46,606,000 $2,594 12%
Administration: $52,221,000 $2,907 13%
Operations, Food Service, Other: $60,396,000 $3,362 15%
Total Capital Outlay: $8,304,000 $462
Construction: $6,352,000 $353
Total Non El-Sec Education & Other: $864,000 $48
Interest on Debt: $6,914,000 $384


Teacher salaries

The following salary information was pulled from the district's teacher salary schedule. A salary schedule is a list of expected compensations based on variables such as position, years employed, and education level. It may not reflect actual teacher salaries in the district.

Year Minimum Maximum
2024-2025[11] $66,494 $159,400
2023-2024[12] $62,144 $148,973
2019-2020[13] $58,766 $130,439

Academic performance

Each year, state and local education agencies use tests and other standards to assess student proficiency. Although the data below was published by the U.S. Department of Education, proficiency measurements are established by the states. As a result, proficiency levels are not comparable between different states and year-over-year proficiency levels within a district may not be comparable because states may change their proficiency measurements.[14]

The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:

School year All (%) Asian/Pacific Islander (%) Black (%) Hispanic (%) Native American (%) Two or More Races (%) White (%)
2021-2022 47 68 25-29 29 PS 69 63
2020-2021 46 72 25-29 28 PS 70 61
2018-2019 52 77 35-39 33 <50 72 69
2017-2018 51 75 35-39 31 <50 65 67
2016-2017 49 72 35-39 29 21-39 67 66
2015-2016 50 72 40-44 29 21-39 65-69 67
2014-2015 47 67 40-44 25 <=20 55-59 64
2013-2014 68 75-79 <50 48 PS >=80 84
2012-2013 68 84 50-54 50 60-69 75-79 82
2011-2012 67 82 50-54 51 50-59 60-69 80
2010-2011 65 82 55-59 46 60-69 60-79 80

The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:

School year All (%) Asian/Pacific Islander (%) Black (%) Hispanic (%) Native American (%) Two or More Races (%) White (%)
2021-2022 58 77 45-49 42 PS 75 73
2020-2021 58 75-79 <50 48 PS >=80 65
2018-2019 63 78 50-54 46 >=50 79 77
2017-2018 59 76 50-54 41 >=50 75 75
2016-2017 58 76 50-54 39 40-59 74 74
2015-2016 57 75 50-54 38 40-59 70-74 73
2014-2015 54 72 45-49 32 60-79 65-69 71
2013-2014 65 70-74 >=50 44 PS >=80 81
2012-2013 65 79 50-54 45 50-59 80-84 82
2011-2012 66 80 55-59 45 60-69 80-89 83
2010-2011 64 79 55-59 43 70-79 40-59 82

The following table shows the graduation rate of district students each school year:

School year All (%) Asian/Pacific Islander (%) Black (%) Hispanic (%) Native American (%) Two or More Races (%) White (%)
2021-2022 93 >=95 >=50 90 PS >=90 94
2020-2021 92 90-94 >=80 88 PS >=90 95
2019-2020 88 85-89 >=50 84 >=50 80-89 92
2018-2019 92 90-94 >=50 91 PS >=80 93
2017-2018 90 90-94 >=50 88 >=50 >=80 93
2016-2017 91 90-94 >=80 86 >=50 60-79 94
2015-2016 94 >=95 >=50 89 >=50 >=80 97
2014-2015 94 90-94 >=80 90 >=50 >=80 96
2013-2014 93 90-94 >=80 90 PS >=80 95
2012-2013 93 90-94 >=90 91 >=50 >=50 95
2011-2012 94 90-94 >=80 90 PS PS 96
2010-2011 93 >=95 >=80 87 PS 96


Students

Year Enrollment Year-to-year change (%)
2023-2024 17,768 -0.3
2022-2023 17,816 -0.8
2021-2022 17,962 -3.3
2020-2021 18,559 -8.7
2019-2020 20,173 -2.3
2018-2019 20,641 -2.9
2017-2018 21,234 -1.6
2016-2017 21,581 -0.7
2015-2016 21,736 -0.8
2014-2015 21,905 -0.5
2013-2014 22,018 0.1
2012-2013 22,003 0.7
2011-2012 21,857 0.2
2010-2011 21,811 0.4
2009-2010 21,718 1.0
2008-2009 21,507 0.8
2007-2008 21,338 -0.4
2006-2007 21,421 -3.3
2005-2006 22,122 -1.6
2004-2005 22,487 0.5
2003-2004 22,383 0.5
2002-2003 22,275 1.6
2001-2002 21,919 1.2
2000-2001 21,658 1.4
1999-2000 21,364 0.0
Racial Demographics, 2023-2024
RACE Newport-Mesa Unified School District (%) California K-12 STUDENTS (%)
American Indian/Alaska Native 0.1 0.4
Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander 5.8 12.1
Black 0.8 4.9
Hispanic 46.5 56.1
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 0.4 0.4
Two or More Races 7.3 5.8
White 39.0 20.2

Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.


Staff

As of the 2023-2024 school year, Newport-Mesa Unified School District had 922.30 full-time classroom teachers. The student-teacher ratio was 19.26.

Teachers, 2023-2024 school year
TYPE NUMBER OF TEACHERS
Prekindergarten: 0.00
Kindergarten: 93.87
Elementary: 517.37
Secondary: 311.06
Total: 922.30

Newport-Mesa Unified School District employed 22.00 district administrators and 51.95 school administrators as of the 2023-2024 school year.

Administrators, 2023-2024 school year
TYPE NUMBER OF ADMINISTRATORS
District Administrators: 22.00
District Administrative Support: 69.88
School Administrators: 51.95
School Administrative Support: 103.01
Other staff, 2023-2024 school year
TYPE NUMBER OF OTHER STAFF
Instructional Aides: 318.98
Instruc. Coordinators & Supervisors: 12.00
Total Guidance Counselors: 49.90
Elementary Guidance Counselors: 19.00
Secondary Guidance Counselors: 11.40
Librarians/Media Specialists: 6.33
Library/Media Support: 0.00
Student Support Services: 96.40
Other Support Services: 823.97


Schools

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District operates 32 schools. They are listed below in alphabetical order.
List of schools
SCHOOL NAMENUMBER OF STUDENTSGRADES
Abraham Lincoln Elementary294KG-6
Adams Elementary326KG-6
Back Bay High1509-12
California Elementary366KG-6
Charles W. Tewinkle Middle5147-8
College Park Elementary471KG-6
Corona Del Mar High2,0427-12
Costa Mesa High1,7617-12
Early College High2009-12
Eastbluff Elementary380KG-6
Estancia High1,0309-12
Everett A. Rea Elementary346KG-6
Harbor View Elementary338KG-6
Harper0
Heinz Kaiser Elementary5203-6
Horace Ensign Intermediate9247-8
Killybrooke Elementary445KG-6
Mariners Elementary555KG-6
Maude B. Davis Elementary560KG-6
Monte Vista Independent Study627-12
Newport Coast Elementary469KG-6
Newport Elementary331KG-6
Newport Harbor High2,2179-12
Newport Heights Elementary478KG-6
Paularino Elementary356KG-6
Pomona Elementary290KG-6
Roy O. Andersen Elementary324KG-6
Sonora Elementary376KG-6
Victoria Elementary293KG-6
Whittier Elementary457KG-6
Wilson Elementary354KG-6
Woodland Elementary455KG-2

Contact information

Newport-Mesa Unified School District Logo.png

Newport-Mesa Unified School District
2985 Bear Street
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Phone: 714-424-5000


About school boards

Education legislation in California

Bills are monitored by BillTrack50 and sorted by action history.

See also

California School Board Elections News and Analysis
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External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Newport-Mesa Unified School District, "Newport-Mesa Board of Education Selects Dr. Wesley Smith as New Superintendent," September 9, 2021
  2. ↑ LA Times, "Newport-Mesa Unified board, overriding concerns, names Russell Lee-Sung district superintendent," August 5, 2020
  3. ↑ Newport-Mesa Unified School District, "Newport-Mesa Board of Education Announces Mr. Russell Lee-Sung as Superintendent," accessed May 17, 2021
  4. ↑ Newport-Mesa Unified School District, "Agreement for Employment of Superintendent," accessed October 9, 2019 (dead link)
  5. ↑ LA Times, "Fred Navarro to retire as superintendent of Newport-Mesa school district," June 13, 2020
  6. ↑ Orange County Register, "Newport-Mesa district names new superintendent," June 22, 2012
  7. ↑ Newport-Mesa Unified School District, "Board of Education," accessed July 27, 2015
  8. ↑ Newport-Mesa Unified School District, "Trustee Area Boundary Map," accessed May 17, 2021
  9. ↑ Newport-Mesa Unified School District, "Bylaw 9323: Meeting Conduct," accessed December 14, 2023
  10. ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Elementary/Secondary Information System," accessed October 6, 2025
  11. ↑ Newport-Mesa Unified School District, "2024-2025 Teacher Salary Schedule," accessed April 16, 2025
  12. ↑ Newport-Mesa Unified School District, "2023-2024 Teacher Salary Schedule," accessed February 5, 2024
  13. ↑ Newport-Mesa Unified School District, "2019-2020 Teacher Salary Schedule," accessed May 17, 2021
  14. ↑ U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC: EDFacts, "State Assessments in Reading/Language Arts and Mathematics- School Year 2018-19 EDFacts Data Documentation," accessed February 25, 2021
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