The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Torrance, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne, Lawndale, & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 106, No. 37 - September 14, 2017
El Segundo High Volleyball in
Good Hands with Kurke
School Board Hears Presentation on
Importance of Vigilant Student Attendance
By Duane Plank
El Segundo Middle School Assistant
Principal Ali Rabiei took center stage
at Tuesday evening’s meeting of the El
Segundo School Board with a special
presentation focusing on the challenges
of increasing student attendance. Rabiei’s
20-plus-minute educational talk, and the
subsequent fielding of questions from
Board members, started out delineating
strategies in place to foster increases
in student daily attendance as well as
attendance-recovery procedures. Multiple
published studies link student success as
they matriculate in school and beyond to
showing up religiously on campus. District
funding, a not-so-unimportant facet to
success, is also linked to average daily
attendance numbers.
Rabiei talked about the success of
the after-school attendance program, and
that administrators make home visits
to students who are chronically absent,
which is defined as equal to 10 percent
or more of schooldays missed to a
set date. For example, by the end of
September, El Segundo Unified District
will have had around 20 schooldays.
Any student who has missed two or
more days is technically deemed
chronically absent. Chronic absenteeism
includes both excused and unexcused
absences. Whether a student is ill or truant,
such absences are counted towards
chronic absenteeism.
Inside
This Issue
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.....................16
Classifieds............................4
Crossword/Sudoku.............4
Entertainment......................7
Legals............................ 14,15
Letters...................................3
Pets......................................17
Police Briefs........................3
Real Estate........ 10-13,18-20
Sports.................................5,8
Weekend
Forecast
Friday
AM Clouds/
PM Sun
70˚/63˚
Saturday
Sunny
70˚/63˚
Sunday
Partly
Cloudy
70˚/63˚
Senior and outside hitter Maddie Kurke, who was named to the All-CIF first team last season, returns to lead the Lady Eagles as El Segundo High School’s girls vollyeball team looks forward to a successful year.
Photo by Gregg McMullin. For story see page 5.
Council Prepares to Adopt Budget as
Pension Hikes Threaten Future Stability
By Brian Simon
In between discussions about TopGolf,
the El Segundo City Council also has a
budget to adopt before the end of this
month with a public hearing on the matter
scheduled during next Tuesday’s meeting. In
preparation for finalizing the 2017/18 document,
the five members recently met to go
over staff recommendations on how to spend
a surplus from the current fiscal year as well
as address major challenges down the road.
Said challenges will be daunting, to say
the least. While the Council agreed to keep
reserves at 18 percent to give the City $3.3
million in additional funds to allocate for
2017/18, the future financial outlook is much
less rosy. “Next year, the news is okay,” City
Manager Greg Carpenter told the group, as
the soon-to-be-adopted budget should run
close to even or at a slight surplus. After
that, not so much good news---with annual
deficits potentially creeping up to over $5
million by 2022/23. There are several culprits
identified, including reduced sales tax
revenues as consumers continue to increase
online purchases. Additionally as companies
(including the nearby gas-fired power
plant that doesn’t run as often as originally
expected) and developments become more
energy-efficient, utility user taxes will also
trend downward. And a likely recession--as
one historically occurs every seven or eight
years--could put a major damper in the City’s
coffers as well. But those are relative drops
in the bucket compared to El Segundo’s
most pressing long-term fiscal issue—how
to address escalating pension costs. The
Council this summer formed an ad hoc
subcommittee to deal with the matter and
several cost-cutting options are now on the
table for potential action.
According to the latest projections, the City
will see its annual pension expenditures rise
by $9.3 million just over the next five years.
Based on today’s projections the yearly price
tag for miscellaneous employees will jump
from $2.8 million to $5.8 million by 2022/23.
See City Council, page 15
See School Board, page 6