The Orange County Board of Education on Wednesday voted to elect new officers for the 2017-18 fiscal year. Dr. Jack Bedell was selected to serve a one-year term as president, while fellow trustee David Boyd was named vice president.
Bedell, whom voters re-elected in 2016, represents District 4, which includes Buena Park, Fullerton, La Habra, Placentia and portions of Anaheim. A professor emeritus at Cal State Fullerton, he’s been a university educator and faculty leader for more than 40 years. Along with a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Franklin and Marshall College, he holds a doctorate from Case Western Reserve University.
Boyd is the trustee for District 2, which includes Cypress, Huntington Beach, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Rossmoor, Seal Beach, Stanton, Sunset Beach, Westminster, along with portions of Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley and Garden Grove. He’s led the Taft University System for more than 30 years, first as its president and, since 2012, as chancellor. Along with a bachelor’s degree from Cal State Long Beach, Boyd holds a law degree from the Western State University College of Law, and he completed his post-graduate studies in Constitutional law and English legal history at Harvard Law School.
The Orange County Board of Education is made up of five elected officials who each serve four-year terms. Its responsibilities include approving OCDE’s budget and receiving the department’s annual audit; maintaining an awareness of the operations and financial conditions of school districts throughout the county; approving the purchase of property for department programs; hearing and ruling on expulsion appeals, interdistrict attendance appeals and charter school appeals; representing Orange County’s education community and families at the local, county, state and national levels; and informing local communities about the programs and achievements of OCDE.
The county superintendent, currently Dr. Al Mijares, acts as the board secretary and executive officer.
More information, including meeting dates and agendas, can be found on the Orange County Board of Education’s official website.