County OKs Inglewood School Budget, Praises Efforts to Resolve Fiscal Woes

The fiscal black cloud that has hovered over the Inglewood Unified School District for the last three years is starting to clear, officials at the Los Angeles County Office of Education said Wednesday as they approved the district’s $100-million budget and applauded its efforts to stave off insolvency.

The Los Angeles County Office of Education approved 81 school district budgets Tuesday. The Inglewood budget was passed despite a $4.7-million shortfall in the 1995-96 school year. The district wiped out the deficit by reallocating money from several other funds.

Kenneth Shelton, assistant superintendent of Business Services for the County Office of Education, said the district is on target for its three-year fiscal recovery program that will be completed at the end of this fiscal year. The district was appointed a county fiscal advisor in 1993 when its adult education fund was more than $1 million in debt.

Shelton said the adult education fund dropped to $288,000 in 1995-96 and the district has developed a plan so that it will have $206,000 left over this year.

“The sky is starting to clear in Inglewood and we hope the course they have charted will be maintained,” Shelton said. “It looks like they are going to be able to resolve their financial situation. Everything is on the upswing.”

Richard Bertain, Inglewood assistant superintendent of business services, said the district balanced its budget by transferring $1.9 million from a fund set up to buy furniture.

Nearly $1 million was transferred from a workers’ compensation fund, along with a $1.2-million grant awarded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for earthquake repairs. Bertain said the repairs had already been made as part of the school’s modernization project.

The budget approval is welcome news for Inglewood officials who have been mired in scandals, including an embezzlement scheme in which a custodial supervisor allegedly stole nearly $500,000 from the district by placing phantom employees on the payroll.

“This is great news,” said board member Thomasina Reed. “It shows us that everything we did to reduce the deficit was the correct thing.”

Inglewood Supt. McKinley Nash said that the school board has made a concerted effort to monitor its cash flow. He said that the board set up a cost containment committee over the summer so district expenditures are reviewed more carefully.