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The Weekly Newspaper of Inglewood
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 67, No. 50 - December 13, 2018
Santa Holiday Festival Fun Time
There was free holiday fun for families galore at the Crenshaw Imperial Plaza’s Santa Holiday Festival this past Saturday. Photo: Robert Vega.
Inglewood School District Projects
Budget Relief in the Coming Year
By Haleemon Anderson
The Inglewood School Board received
a financial report at its meeting last week,
indicating a positive outlook for the coming
year. Eugenio Villa, chief business officer for
the Inglewood Unified School District, said
the first interim report was filed early, ahead
of the Dec. 15 deadline.
The report, the first in a quarterly series
of budget revisions and projections due to
the County Office of Education, indicates
changes to the budget, revised assumptions
and actuals for July through October. “This
report reflects the first major revisions to the
budget,” said Villa.
Assumptions documented in the report
incorporate a one-year state loan payment
deferral for 2018-19, a sum of $1.8 million.
The report also incorporates the projected
AB 1840 additional revenues, which could
mean several million dollars in each of the
next three years from the state. A criterion
for AB 1840, is the expectation of a qualified
or positive designation by the second interim.
“We’ve met the goal early,” said Villa.
Villa noted that AB 1840 funding brings both
support and accountability. The increased state
funding is targeted to help beleaguered school
districts cover a portion of their operational
deficits, and not additional programs. The
bill is designated for deficits from 2019
through 2022.
Villa added there has also been a general
improvement in enrollment, also projected into
the report. “These reports are really critical,”
he said. “It quantifies everything that happens
in the district. We are able to file our interim
report as ‘qualified.’ It’s not positive yet,
but this is a significant improvement. The
district filed ‘negative’ for all of 2017-18,
as a result of unplanned deficit spending that
was uncovered.”
Villa’s report projects the district will be
able to meet the required 3 percent minimum
reserves. The next report, the second interim,
is due March 15.
Thirteen district employees were honored
at the meeting, as recipients of the Employee
Excellence Award. The honorees were selected
to receive the award from a group of over
50 nominees.
Keith Crafton, director of business advisory
services for LACOE, reported to the board
on the completion of a forensic audit done
in conjunction with the Los Angeles County
Office of Education. Crafton said the finding
of the county is that fraud and misappropriation
of funds may have occurred in accounts
where ASB funds were handled. According
to Crafton, the funds in question amount to
thousands of dollars that could not be accounted.
Crafton said the CTC (California Teaching
Commission) and district attorney’s office
would be notified. According to Villa, the
“extraordinary audit is required under the
guidelines of AB-139.” The audit report dated
Oct. 23 was filed with the county district
attorney.
Board member D’Artagnan Scroza questioned
special education costs, which have
ballooned in the last years. He also asked
what formative assessments are being used to
identify gaps in learning in looking to increase
test scores. “These numbers are not going to
bring people back to us,” said Scorza.
Chief Academic Officer Carmen Beck said
a cross-agency plan is being developed with
LACOE, the California Department of Education
(CDE) and the California Council on
Economic Education (CCEE), to identify what
needs to be in place and to meet all compliance
issues. “We have earmarked specific
funds for [academic] interventions before,
and after school and on Saturday,” said Beck.
Principals Richard Barton and Alberto
De Leon were on hand to provide details
about their schools’ strategic plans. Barton,
District staff receive Employee Excellence Award at Inglewood School Board meeting.
See School Board, page 8