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 - October 1, 2015 Hudson Group Donates 2000 Phone Cards for Troops at Bob Hope USO Pictured: LAX Hudson Group store managers with a representative of LAX’s Bob Hope USO. The managers, on behalf of Hudson Group customers, donated 2000 phone cards to the troops at the Bob Hope USO, bringing the total donated to 7500 phone cards donated year-to-date. The store managers also had the opportunity to tour the Bob Hope USO facilities. The USO provides a place for military members and their families to rest while traveling, and Hudson Group is America’s largest travel retailer. Photo courtesy of Hudson Group. Council Considers School District Unification with Centinela Valley By Derrick Deane School unification has been a subject that has been considered several times before with the Hawthorne area schools and while previous efforts have proven unsuccessful, Mayor Pro Tem Olivia Valentine re-introduced the idea at a recent City Council meeting due to inquiries from Hawthorne parents. Valentine called up Dr. Allison Deegan, administrative advisor to the county committee on school district organization, to present information on what needs to happen if school unification is to be successful this time around. “I invited her because some parents have expressed interest in unification of the Centinela Valley and Hawthorne school districts,” Valentine said. “I wanted to make sure our parents in the city were informed on what steps need to be taken if they wish to go in that direction.” Dr. Deegan is the person that petitioners have to contact in order to get the unification process to take place and may be reached on the L.A. County Office of Education website’s contact page at http://www.lacoe.edu/. “There are several pathways for unification,” Dr. Deegan said during her presentation. “All the scenarios are very complex. There is a code structure to go through some of these processes. Some of them are unique to what could come up in this region.” Whether the city actively pursues the unification or not, the decision will come down to the County Committee on School District Organization which is comprised of an 11 member elected council by school board members. Unification would create a new K-12 district from the Hawthorne School District that could be known as the Hawthorne Unified School District. Currently, Hawthorne’s K-8 schools are locally monitored while the high schools are a part of the Centinela Valley School District. “What this means, and this is all speculative since we don’t have any petitions at the moment, but we don’t know if that will contain the same borders of the current Hawthorne School District, if it will morph, or if a petition would come forward that would include parts of other school districts,” Dr. Deegan said. Some of the hypothetical discussion that has taken place so far has included the potential dissolution of the Centinela Valley School District. According to Dr. Deegan, given the geography with Lennox to the north, Hawthorne in the center and Lawndale to the south, if Hawthorne unifies, there’s no connection between Lennox and Lawndale for a high school district to operate. “There is room in the education code for that to remain, but a likely scenario is that it would change the structure of the high school district at a minimum,” Dr. Deegan said. The most typical way this process moves forward is registered voters collect signatures for a petition. A voter-led petition would require signatures from 25 percent of registered voters within the city. The school board could also launch a petition that would require a majority vote of the school board members. Dr. Deegan pointed out that the city council could spearhead school unification as well. “This is the pathway that I think would be the most relevant for this group,” Dr. Deegan said. “There is a pathway for a city as a local agency under the education code to be the petitioner.” If the City Council came up with a majority vote, they could come up to the Education Board and request unification. The big question would be what would happen regionally if Hawthorne unified. In addition to the potential dissolution of the Centinela Valley School District, it will trigger significant and complex financial analysis. “Any time you change government structures, you’re creating a new entity that has to carry over the employment obligations, pension obligations, contracting obligations and things of that sort into a new entity,” Dr. Deegan said. “It requires serious consideration.” Among the councilmembers, mayoral candidate Alex Vargas was the first to speak on the topic saying that he didn’t want the City Council to pursue unification. “I want the Hawthorne parents to pursue this because the city simply doesn’t have the money and our focus right now is to turn around our city,” Vargas said. Councilman Nilo Michelin also voiced concern about the current school district structure. “There’s actually been a lot of support for this over the years and I think this is one of the most important issues we face,” Michelin said. “We’re here for our students and I’m concerned that the superintendent made more than the president. I’m concerned that the school board funded a house for the superintendent with a mortgage of hundreds of thousands of dollars. I’m concerned that Centinela has bond, after bond, after bond for three high schools and yet they’re telling us there’s going to be another bond. I think our students deserve better and yet their scores are the lowest in L.A. County.” In 2000, Michelin was involved in a Hawthorne unification effort that fell apart due to the complexities of the process. “First of all, you need 25 percent of the registered voters. Well, 10 percent of the people vote in the election, so more than two times the number of people who will vote on Election Day is the how many signatures you need,” Michelin said. “Even if you get that 25 percent, you have to go through a process that takes years and years.” Michlein said he still supports school unification saying, “I think Hawthorne School District does a great job and I totally believe in local control.” Valentine also stated that she supported the initiative of unification, but said, “I believe it has to come from the parents. The parents need to pursue it and to the extent that they do, I’m more than happy to help them in any way that I can.” Valentine added that,“The parents need to be at the forefront on this because it takes years and years to achieve.” She added that the people really need to want it in order for the process to work. • Inside This Issue Certified & Licensed Professionals.......................4 Classifieds............................2 Community Briefs...............3 Film Review..........................2 Hawthorne Happenings....3 Legals................................ 6-7 Sports....................................4 Weekend Forecast Friday Sunny 79˚/66˚ Saturday Sunny 77˚/64˚ Sunday Sunny 70˚/63˚ The Weekly Newspaper of Hawthorne
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