Secession Leaders Protest Conclusions of Report on School District Breakup

Leaders of the movement to split the San Fernando Valley from the Los Angeles Unified School District said Monday they object to a consultant’s conclusions that two independent Valley districts would increase racial segregation and lack funding to operate.

Members of the Valley citizens group Finally Restoring Excellence in Education criticized the findings at a news conference after a closed-door meeting with officials from the Los Angeles County Committee on School District Organization. The county committee will issue its recommendation for approval or disapproval of the breakaway bid Wednesday.

“The reason for the meeting today was to prevail upon them to change their findings,” said Paula Boland, a former state assemblywoman. “They have come to conclusions that are based on improper assumptions.”

The pro-breakup group took exception to the report’s conclusion that splitting up the Los Angeles school district would decrease the percentage of white students in remaining L.A. Unified schools from 11% to 6% of the total student population.

Although the white student population is decreasing in the district, a Valley split would accelerate the process and hurt the district’s ability to maintain is current desegregation program, the report said.

Calling such a 5-percentage-point drop in the white student population “minuscule,” Boland said, “Why this has become an issue . . . is something we cannot comprehend.”

Under the plan, students from outside the breakup areas who now attend a Valley school would continue to do so, Boland said, preserving existing desegregation programs.

Harold Gutenberg, a lawyer for the breakup group, disagreed with the report’s findings that the new Valley districts would lack sufficient funding to cover operating expenses and to maintain required reserves.

Both the consulting firm that prepared the report, Caldwell Flores Winters, and members of the county panel refused to comment.

Boland said the group’s members wanted to air their objections before the committee’s 11 members announce their recommendation.

After the hearing, the committee’s recommendation will be forwarded to the state Board of Education, which will decide whether to call an election. The state has not determined who would vote in the election--all voters in the district, or those who live in the areas proposed for secession.