Grant to give help online

The City Council approved and accepted a grant from the California State Library to provide online homework help for students at its meeting Tuesday.

The motion was passed unanimously and will give students assistance in mathematics, English, social studies and science through a $19,500 Out-of-School-Time Online Homework Help grant from the Library Services and Technology Act.

The money will be used for a one-year subscription with Brainfuse Inc. The grant will increase the availability of live, online tutoring for students in kindergarten through high school.

The service will be available at Huntington Beach Public Libraries and remotely from home.

The council also approved the design and construction of the new senior center in Huntington Central Park 6-1 with Councilwoman Jill Hardy opposed.

“We can’t approve a design if the design is going to change because of the higher standards,” she said.

The senior center will be built with green elements when feasible and was originally going to be equivalent to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification. The proposal was amended to include a direction for staff to look for additional efficiencies and alternatives for a 2.2 “Silver” efficiency certification, a higher level, through potential saving in bids.

The project is expected to bid out for less than expected, allowing additional green elements to be added to the building ,a city official said.

The council also approved several appointments. Dominic “Nick” Tomaino and Brian Rechsteiner were chosen for the Community Services Commission until July 2013. The two will be replacing David Bloom, Buddy Roberts and Barbara Steel on the commission. Chelsea Ostovarpour, Whitney Loo, Audrey Taylor, Dallas Heyden, Cecilia Walker and Lauren Morse were appointed to the Youth Board until June 2010. The council also voted to approve the reappointment of Carrie Huss, Grace Le and Alison Baskin to the Youth Board.

The full video of the council’s meetings is available on the city’s website.