Road to Independence Marked by Legal, Political Hurdles

The road to breaking up a school district is a lengthy one that includes petition drives, reviews, hearings and probable appeals.

In the case of the Los Angeles Unified School District--which has many firm opponents to a breakup--the effort to carve up the district probably will include lawsuits.

“It’s going to be a challenge, I’m sure,” said former Assemblywoman Paula Boland, chairwoman of the Valley-based group--Finally Restoring Excellence in Education--working to sever ties with the nation’s second-largest school district.

The group must first submit plans that include boundary maps and a legal description of their proposed new districts to the Los Angeles County Office of Education. If the application is deemed sufficient by county standards, the group will receive voter petitions.

Then they will have to collect the signatures of at least 8% of the voters within their proposed new school districts who cast ballots in the last gubernatorial election.

The completed petitions are then filed with the county Office of Education, which has 20 days to make sure the signatures are valid and the petitions meet legal requirements. If so, they are passed on to the Los Angeles County Committee on School District Organization, an 11-member group appointed from school districts throughout the county.

The committee has 60 days to hold at least one public hearing within the existing school district, after which it will make a recommendations to the State Board of Education.

The state board then considers the breakup plan. Although the law imposes no deadline for a decision, it does require the board to hold public hearings.

After the hearings, if the board approves the breakup plan, the county superintendent of schools must call an election. If the board disapproves, the matter dies.

“Assuming it goes at a normal fashion, it’ll be a year before the State Board of Education orders elections in the county to have new school districts,” said attorney Laurence B. Labovitz, a consultant with the Valley group.

The state board also must decide who votes on the breakup proposals--whether it is only the voters in the areas seeking independence or all registered voters in the school district. The measure needs to be approved by a simple majority.