CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : OAKLAND : Schools Given OK to Drop Bankruptcy

The financially frail Richmond school district was allowed to pull out of bankruptcy proceedings despite arguments from employees that the protection is needed. U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Edmund Jellen ruled that he had no authority to make the Richmond Unified School District remain under the bankruptcy protection it had sought last year. Facing about a $50-million debt, the district announced it would close six weeks early this spring. But parents got a court order demanding that the schools stay open and the state stepped in with a $19-million emergency loan.