Upon recommendation of Vice Principal B. E. Claypool, the number of semester hours needed for graduation has been increased by the high school board of trustees. Action was taken at a meeting of the board last week. Claypool told the board that a study of senior schedules showed that the class load was too light and that there were not enough solids taken by many seniors.

The Manteca City planners looked with disfavor on the M. J. Ruddy and Sons request for a hot plant and a transit mix plant to be located on the south side of Lathrop Road and west of the Tidewater and Southern Railroad tracks. Reasons for not favoring the application were possible dust, possible disturbance to the neighborhood, possible damage to grapes in the area, possible pollution of air and possible noxious vapors.

John Gatto, assistant cashier and lending officer at the Manteca branch of the Bank of America, will take over as new manager on September 30. This will be on the retirement of present manager Leon C. Schwartz. Gatto’s new appointment climaxes a 34-year career at Yosemite and Main, after working in all departments and practicalliy every position in the bank.

With property taxes being raised throughout the state, it appears that Manteca’s rate may remain the same this year as last--$2.06 per $100 of assessed valuation. Though they did not vote on any tax rate resolutions Friday night, city councilmen did vote 3-2 to set the tax rate at $2.06. Voting in favor were Councilmen Angelo Bressani, Del Stoker and Robert Behrens, while Mayor Cliff Parr and Councilman Tom Fuller cast negative votes.

The recently changed attendance area boundaries were challenged Tuesday night at the regular board meeting of the Manteca Unified School District trustees by a group of 14 persons, parents and high school youngsters. The minor confrontation ended by the trustees explaining the boundary changes, which had apparently been misunderstood by the parents, and then reaffirming their former action in adopting the new boundaries.

Mayor Bill Phillips is resigning from his post as mayor of Manteca effective September 18, he announced during Monday night’s City Council meeting. “I have been offered and have accepted a new position with Pacific Gas and Electric in San Rafael,” City Clerk Nell Cornell read from a letter addressed to the council members.

Members of the Manteca City Council showed the growing strain of a deepening division when they spent more than an hour bickering during their regular Monday meeting. For example, the meeting’s first half-hour was devoted to debating the minutes from the last meeting--net result was one minor change. Each argument was consumed with side issues, massive detail and little apparent purpose.

Out of a $77.9 million Manteca Unified School District budget for 1989-90, the only area of serious debate for board members Tuesday night was a $46,000 donation to Manteca city recreation.  That’s less than one percent of the total. But--even though unchanged in the Board’s approval of a next-to-final draft of the budget--the item raised concern from members Robert Wahl and Brad Keaster. “I think the $46,000 collected for education is spent unwisely and wrong when it’s spent on recreation in the city of Manteca,” said Keaster.

There were some critics who showed up at the environmental public hearing Thursday in Manteca for the South County Surface Water Supply Project. However, they were outnumbered by those who spoke in favor of the $125 million project intended to supply treated water to the cities of Manteca, Lathrop, Escalon and Tracy, which are in a joint partnership with the South San Joaquin Irrigation district.