College Board Delays Vote on Reform Effort

The Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees postponed voting on a reform proposal for the troubled district because the major overhaul the board had intended to approve Wednesday night is not ready for consideration.

West Los Angeles College President Evelyn Wong told the board that a top-to-bottom study of the district’s functions has taken longer than anticipated, but that significant progress had been made.

The plan is expected to be voted on Sept. 9.

The reform would decentralize district operations where feasible to give more autonomy to the nine campuses, three of which--Pierce, Valley and Mission colleges--are in the Valley.

The hope is that providing more authority and accountability to the colleges will encourage them to take actions to generate enrollment and revenue for the financially strapped campuses.

Power is currently vested in a central bureaucracy that critics say has stifled innovation, while using too much of the district’s scarce resources.

The district narrowly escaped bankruptcy in the fiscal year that ended July 1.

It is not known if decentralization will save money, and Chancellor James Heinselman has warned it could be more costly if not carefully done.

Board members were eager to approve the decentralization plan in June, but ran afoul of the state chancellor for community colleges, who warned the trustees that to move ahead without consulting the district Academic Senate was a violation of state law.

Although disagreeing with that interpretation, the board put off a vote on the plan so that district officials could confer with the Senate. They have been doing so this summer with good results, both say.