Big Centinela Budget Meeting Tonight
The trustees of uber-cash-strapped Centinela Valley Union High School District are holding a special meeting tonight with just one big item on the agenda: Approving a financial recovery plan.
The school system by tomorrow must submit to the Los Angeles County Office of Education its to-do list for getting back on track money-wise. Interim Superintendent Jose Fernandez last week told me that they need to cut about $3.5 million immediately to be solvent for next fall.
Centinela had been hoping for a parcel tax measure to help make up a big chunk of their deficit. The effort flamed out in last week's election, by garnering a majority vote (about 56 percent) but not the two-thirds approval it needed to pass.
Tonight's special session -- open to the public, natch -- gets underway at 5:30 p.m. in the board headquarters located on Inglewood Ave., behind Lawndale High School.
An insider who shall here remain nameless guessed the meeting would be "possibly long and probably nasty." (The newest board members and two of the three holdovers haven't exactly been getting along so well.)
Regardless, it should be interesting to see what gets cut and what gets saved. Everything from salary reductions to eliminating athletic programs have been floated as within the realm of possible reductions.