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LA Unified search goes into next week, but end is close
After meeting five hours today to discuss candidates for the next LAUSD superintendent, the school board adjourned until next Monday with no decision made. The school board members began a closed session at 9 a.m. and returned at 2:15 p.m. to say they will resume the search discussions on Monday, Jan. 11 at 4 p.m., with...
By Mike Szymanski | January 5, 2016
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Playa Vista dispute reflects classism as major issue facing LAUSD
The school board vote was simple, but the matter is far more complex, drawing a focus to an issue many within LA Unified find uncomfortable to talk about: classism. The issues involved in the Playa Vista Elementary School dispute are a microcosm of complexities within the second largest school district in the country. They involve...
By Mike Szymanski | January 5, 2016
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LAUSD readies 2 sites for students escaping Porter Ranch gas leak
Two new school sites are expected to be completely ready by Wednesday for 1,850 LA Unified students relocated from the methane gas leak in Porter Ranch. That will give the district time to work out any last-minute glitches before the students and faculty move in next week. School board member Scott Schmerelson, Local District Northwest Superintendent...
By Mike Szymanski | January 4, 2016
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LAUSD board votes to shut 2 Valley schools because of gas leak
Citing an “abundance of caution” for children the second time this week, the LA Unified school board voted today to move two Valley schools to another location until June because of toxic fumes from a leaking gas storage facility. The unanimous vote by the seven-member board cleared the way to move 1,870 students in the...
By Mike Szymanski | December 17, 2015
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JUST IN: LAUSD opens door to ‘acting/interim’ superintendent
The LA Unified school board is meeting later today in open and closed sessions, and one of the items on the agenda appears to suggest that the members may appoint a temporary superintendent until they decide on a permanent successor to Ramon Cortines. The closed session agenda includes “Unrepresented Employee: Superintendent or Acting/Interim Superintendent of...
By LA School Report | December 17, 2015
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LAUSD board meeting to discuss gas leak, new superintendent
The LA Unified school board is drawing closer to the end of the search for a new with another closed door meeting scheduled for tomorrow, just after a special open session to discuss the on-going gas leak affecting two nearby schools in the Valley. The board is considering a move to declare emergency conditions at Porter Ranch Community...
By Mike Szymanski | December 16, 2015
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Commentary: ‘Miscommunicating’ and the decline of LAUSD enrollment
By Nicholas Melvoin If members of the LAUSD Board of Education are curious as to why the district’s enrollment is declining, they should review how the district treated parents over the last few days in the Playa Vista and Westchester neighborhoods for some clues. In a tale that is unfortunately all too familiar to many LAUSD...
By Guest contributor | December 11, 2015
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LAUSD explores building 2 schools in Valley, holding off charters
*UPDATED LA Unified is exploring building two new schools in the western San Fernando Valley on the sites of two campuses that have been vacant for decades at a potential cost of tens of millions. The move comes as the district has no current plans for any new schools and would need to spend an...
By Craig Clough | December 10, 2015
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Broad charter plan faces heavy attack at LAUSD board meeting
* UPDATED The Broad Foundation plan to expand charter schools in LA Unified made an ominous debut before the LA Unified board yesterday as one opponent after another ripped into it as unwanted, unnecessary and destructive to the district and public education in general. The widespread attack came in several forms after the board postponed...
By Mike Szymanski | December 9, 2015
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LA Unified’s union leaders unite to oppose Broad charter plan
Leaders of the nine unions that represent teaches, administrators and other staffers at LAUSD stood before the district board today to express a united front against the Broad foundation plan to create more charter schools in the district. Flanked at the podium by the union leaders, Juan Flecha, president of Associated Administrators of Los Angeles (AALA), told the...
By Mike Szymanski | December 8, 2015