Hawthorne Press Tribune
Herald Publications - Inglewood, Hawthorne, Lawndale, El Segundo, Torrance & Manhattan Beach Community Newspapers Since 1911 - Circulation 30,000 - Readership 60,000 (310) 322-1830 - January 18, 2018
Jim Thorpe Park Gets Kicking
The start of the Major League Soccer season is just a few weeks away and Hawthorne’s Jim Thorpe Park recently achieved an important goal of its own when it unveiled two new small-sided soccer courts
– thanks to the generosity of the LA Galaxy Foundation and Herbalife. Photo: Hawthorne Parks and Recreation
Wiseburn School Board Gets Updates on
Construction Projects, Governor’s Budget
By Duane Plank
During the first Wiseburn School Board
meeting of 2018, members wished the assembled
folks a happy new year and blessed the nearcompletion
of Phase I of the mammoth Wiseburn
High School construction project. Board member
Neil Goldman, in his very brief report, intoned
“Happy New Year, Happy New Year, Happy New
Year! I’m done.” This pretty much summed up
the general comments, as the members looked
forward to resumption of the 2017-18 school
year, completion of Phase I challenges, and
work on the Phase II projects -- including the
aquatics center, gymnasium and soccer field.
Prior to the meeting, Wiseburn Unified
School District Superintendent Tom Johnstone
noted financial challenges, including stretching
“professional development dollars.” He
mentioned a recent collaboration with the
Hermosa and El Segundo districts to work
together. “If you pool your resources, the money
goes a lot further,” he said, as Wiseburn looks
for the most fiscally prudent way to address
skyrocketing employee pension costs.
Johnstone also spoke about the progress
made on the Phase II construction projects,
humorously noting, “Well, there is a pool out
there, all right,” as he alluded to the torrential
downpour that hit much of California on
Monday and Tuesday. Johnstone said the rains
set construction in the pool area back “about
a week.” He still hopes the pool opening will
occur prior to his retirement at the end of June,
but deemed that timeline “very ambitious.” Said
the ever-positive Johnstone, “You don’t get stuff
done unless you are ambitious.”
The other two facets of the Phase II project
are the gym, which should be completed around
the time that the pool opens; and the soccer
field, which Johnstone said will hopefully be
ready for the start of the prep soccer season in
December. The grounds the soccer field will
occupy are currently being utilized as a staging
area for the ongoing construction on the west
side of Douglas Street.
Director of Facilities Planning Vince Madsen,
who was unable to attend the meeting, emailed
that the superintendent has a schedule he would
like to see hit and that “as you know, the
existing soil conditions and the Transite pipe
we’ve had to deal with in the ground has been
very challenging to the schedule.”
Last Friday Johnstone was to meet with
John Bernardy, senior vice president of Balfour
Beatty -- the management company overseeing
the construction project -- to discuss a realistic
timeline for completion of the El Segundo
Aquatics Center, which is a joint financial
venture coupling Wiseburn with the City of
El Segundo.
Johnstone reported prior to last week’s
meeting that because of lost time with the
inclement weather, probably the only way to
hit the June 30 opening date may be to have
workers on overtime. The issue here, he said,
was if the current timeline is achievable and
who will incur the overtime worker expense.
The opening of Wiseburn High School was
delayed for about a month as workers grappled
with minor construction setbacks.
District Chief Business Official David Wilson
discussed the tentative budget proposed last week
by outgoing California Governor Jerry Brown.
The governor will issue what is termed the
May “revise” of the budget during the second
week of May.
Wilson talked about Proposition 98 funding
increases from $75.2 billion to $78.3 billion
(plus $3.1 billion), noting this would fully fund
the Local Control Funding Formula two years
ahead of schedule. He also reported a 2.51 percent
increase to cost of living adjustment (COLA) to
special education and other categorical programs,
as well as $1.8 billion in “one-time” state mandate
funding. This is approximately $295 per ADA
-- about $700,000 for Wiseburn Unified.
Also noted in the initial release of Brown’s
budget was the full funding of the state’s rainy
day fund to $13.5 billion, which is 10 percent of
state tax revenues; and the proposal to authorize
a total of $640 million in Proposition 51 bond
authority.
Emailed Wilson, post-meeting: “This initial
proposal is the first step of a long process. The
legislature will want to include their priorities
and many negotiations/discussions will be had
before the final state budget is enacted in June
of 2018.”
The lifeblood of school districts is the funding
emanating from Sacramento. Brown, who will
wrap up 16 years of service as governor, has
earmarked nearly $79 million for California for
K-12 school districts. The funding is due to a
requirement that schools are granted a sizeable
“earmark” of annual state tax revenues. With
the tax revenues bursting the state coffers,
K-12 schools continue to benefit with increased
funding.
Also on Thursday, the Board approved an
agreement with UCLA Extension to facilitate
careers in teaching, as well as one with NOVA
Southeastern University to provide student
teacher supervision. The consent agenda
included approval to form the Dana School
Math competition team.
Upcoming calendar items include the Feb. 2
staff development day, and shuffling the next
board meeting to Tuesday, Jan. 23 because
Johnstone will be attending the California School
Superintendent’s Symposium in Monterey. •
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.......................5
Classifieds............................3
Film.........................................2
Finance..................................4
Food.......................................5
Hawthorne Happenings....3
Legals............................... 2, 6
Looking Up......................... 7
Pets........................................8
Politically Speaking............7
Seniors..................................2
Sports....................................4
Weekend
Forecast
Friday
Partly
Cloudy
62˚/48˚
Saturday
Sunny
60˚/44˚
Sunday
Sunny
62˚/46˚
The Weekly Newspaper of Hawthorne