Lungren Lifts Obstacle to L.A. District Breakup

Leaders of a group seeking to separate the San Fernando Valley from the Los Angeles Unified School District declared victory Wednesday in a legal dispute with county education officials that had stalled their secession drive.

A legal opinion from Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren should clear the way for the gathering of signatures to begin Monday, said Scott Wilk, executive director of the Finally Restoring Excellence to Education.

In an eight-page opinion, Deputy Atty. Gen. Anthony M. Summers said in effect that the Los Angeles County Office of Education was wrong to demand that the group prepare costly legal descriptions of the two proposed new Valley school districts before it could circulate petitions.

Speaking even more bluntly than the authors of two prior legal opinions in the group’s favor, Summers said the law only requires such a map after a successful breakup election, and that then the cost would be borne by the Board of Supervisors.

Wilk said the group will refile its petition today, along with the new opinion, and expects to have it approved swiftly by the county, based on a pledge bycounty education officials to abide by the attorney general’s opinion.

“If they are honorable people, we ought to have our petition no later than next Monday,” Wilk said.

A spokesman for the county office of education said its staff had not yet obtained the Oct. 3 opinion, and would reserve comment until after reviewing it.

If the petition drive is successful, the final determination of whether to hold an election rests with the State Board of Education, which would also define the area to participate in the vote.

The opinion, which appears to invalidate a policy that has been in force for 20 years, also would clear the way for another breakup group to move forward with its petition to form a school district in South-Central Los Angeles.

“This is good news,” said Clint Simmons, co-director of the Inner City School District Formation Committee.

That group’s petition, filed more than 18 months ago, has been stuck at the level of county review because it could not produce a satisfactory map.

Rather than attempt to satisfy the requirement, the Valley group contested the policy, which is based on an interpretation of the Government Code.

In response to the challenge, the legal counsel for the office of education conceded that the policy was wrong. A state legislative counsel’s office concurred.

Nevertheless, county officials said they would not scrap a long-standing policy without advice of the attorney general.

The delay has forced the Valley breakup group to give up on its initial goal of placing the question on next November’s ballot.

If the State Board of Education authorizes an election, the earliest possible vote would be in April 1999, Wilk said.