School Board Filings Open Monday

Filing opens Monday for 34 seats in 11 South Bay elementary and secondary school districts and for two trustee posts at El Camino College.

Few incumbents have indicated publicly whether they will seek reelection in November and most races are expected to run a routine course.

The most hotly contested races may develop in the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District, which has been embroiled for more than a year in a bitter dispute over closure of Margate Intermediate School and relocation of the system’s continuation high school.

Three trustees will be up for reelection on the Peninsula and a number of candidates are expected to file for the seat left vacant by the resignation of Patricia A. Johansen last month. She and her husband, Wilford, moved to Washington, where he is serving on the National Labor Relations Board.

Members of half of the school boards in the South Bay serve without pay, and monthly salaries in the others range from about $40 to $400. Trustees generally meet on a weekly or biweekly schedule to set policies and rule on proposals offered by district administrators.

The four-week nominating period will close on Aug. 9, except for any post for which the incumbent does not file for reelection. In such cases, the filing deadline is extended five days for candidates other than the incumbent.

The 11 districts each have three open seats except Palos Verdes, which has four. The districts:

ELEMENTARY--Hawthorne, Hermosa Beach, Lawndale, Lennox, Manhattan Beach and Wiseburn.

UNIFIED (both elementary and high school)--El Segundo, Palos Verdes and Torrance.

HIGH SCHOOL--Centinela Valley and South Bay Union.

Inglewood Unified and Redondo Beach elementary hold elections in April.