ABC SCHOOLS : District Seeks to Evict County Fiscal Advisers
The embattled ABC school district is fighting to evict a team of county-appointed fiscal advisers who have authority over district spending decisions.
ABC officials said they want acting state schools Supt. William D. Dawson to remove the fiscal advisers, who were appointed by the Los Angeles County Office of Education. ABC officials sent a letter to Dawson requesting a hearing on the matter.
Lawyers for the school district contend that the imposition of the fiscal advisers is unnecessary and improper. The county did not conduct a thorough analysis of ABC’s spending plan to determine whether the advisers are needed, the attorneys said.
County officials said they appointed the advisers because the district was unable to approve needed budget cuts. County analysts have estimated that ABC Unified will have a $2.8 million budget deficit next year, depleting virtually all of its reserves.
In their first action, the county advisers last week rescinded the ABC school board’s decision to approve a teachers’ contract that includes a 1% salary bonus and reduced class sizes.
The county education office will present a detailed analysis of the district’s budget to the ABC school board at Tuesday’s meeting, said Deborah L. Simon, the county’s business advisory services director.
ABC Unified has 21,000 students and serves Cerritos, Artesia, Hawaiian Gardens and parts of Lakewood and Norwalk.
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