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LAUSD board ends another session with no superintendent yet

The LA Unified school board dragged in at 9:27 p.m. Friday night, adjourning another closed meeting aimed at finding a new superintendent. After eight hours, they left with nothing to report to the public. The closed session items included the possibility of naming an acting superintendent now that Ramon Cortines is finishing off vacation days prior...
By Mike Szymanski | December 18, 2015
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Point/Counterpoint: Did LAUSD make the right call on closure?

Our two reporters here at LA School Report, Craig Clough and Mike Szymanski, both have kids in school. What they don’t have is a shared opinion about LA Unified’s decision on Tuesday to close down schools in response to an emailed threat of violence that proved to be empty. So here, in a reasoned conversation,...
By LA School Report | December 18, 2015
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Email threat. Schools closed. Finals coming! Petition drive? Nice try

A Van Nuys High School student mounted a petition drive to avoid taking finals this week after an emailed threat of violence closed down all LA Unified schools. It didn’t work. Final exams went on, as they did at all other schools. Still, the organizer got more than 1,300 students to sign it over the past...
By Mike Szymanski | December 18, 2015
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San Francisco, other districts also received threats to schools

Associated Press and City News Service San Francisco Unified School District has received a threat similar to ones received earlier this week in Los Angeles, New York and elsewhere, but investigators have determined it is not credible and the city’s schools remain open, school district officials said today. On Monday, a threat of violence prompted...
By LA School Report | December 18, 2015
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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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AmeriCorps saved from federal cuts, keeps 309 mentors in LAUSD

Congressional agreement on a omnibus spending package will include $1.1 billion for the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal agency that administers service programs, including AmeriCorps. That will save the proposed cutting of 20,000 AmeriCorps positions that provide help to schools in unprivileged communities. City Year, which has 309 AmeriCorps members in Los Angeles, says that Christmas came early...
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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Here’s the entire email that closed down all LAUSD schools

The 362-word email that prompted Superintendent Ramon Cortines to close down every school in the district on Tuesday has been obtained and released by ABC7. Rep. Brad Sherman and other leaders in California and New York were among those who analyzed the contents and pointed out numerous passages indicating that the author’s threats were not credible....
By LA School Report | December 17, 2015
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JUST IN: LA police say Esquith could face one juvenile crime charge

The Los Angeles police department is moving toward charging celebrated teacher Rafe Esquith with one count of inappropriate touching of a juvenile, LA School Report has learned. The single charge could come within a few weeks after being reviewed by the city attorney and U.S. district attorney’s offices, said LAPD Captain Julian Melendez, head of the...
By Mike Szymanski | December 17, 2015
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ISIS supporters online cheer LAUSD bomb scare closures

By James King and Gilad Shiloach ISIS supporters took to social media to gloat about the disruption caused by “credible” bomb threats made against the Los Angeles school system on Tuesday. The threats closed more than 900 schools across the city, abruptly sending hundreds of thousands of students home and throwing the city into disarray. Within minutes...
By LA School Report | December 17, 2015