PLACENTIA YORBA LINDA : School Board Cancels County Crisis Meeting

The Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District Board of Trustees has canceled a special meeting that was to take place Wednesday to discuss how it will be affected by the county’s financial crisis.

The meeting was canceled because the district’s lawyer was not able to attend and the board had nothing specific to discuss.

The meeting was called by the board at a special meeting on Friday. At that meeting, the board held a short public session, then met in closed session for two hours with Marc Winthrop, an attorney hired specifically to guide trustees through the bankruptcy proceedings.

During the open portion of the meeting, trustee Cathy Ann Brooks suggested the board form a committee to advise members on the role of district administrators in the district’s decision to invest $50 million in borrowed money in the county’s investment pool.

“It would behoove us to think of getting a broad-based committee for an administrative review,” she said. “Specifically, we’ve had one (resident) asking for (administrators’) resignations. Should we not position ourselves to deal with that scenario?”

Board President Craig Olson cut off Brooks’ comments and said she was discussing personnel issues, which can only be discussed in closed sessions. The board decided to consider forming a committee of experts to offer advice on financial matters.

“We have to remember whose bankruptcy this is,” said board member Karin M. Freeman. “We need to focus on where to go from here.”