State to Let Carson Vote on Leaving L.A. School District

The State Board of Education on Thursday authorized a vote in the South Bay city of Carson on whether to sever from the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The unanimous board vote set up the first election since the 1940s on a community’s proposal to leave the giant school district and provided an emotional lift to a number of groups trying to break away from other areas.

“From where I sit, this was the keystone,” said George Harris, whose wife Carolyn started the Carson breakup drive. “Once you get somebody who can pull out, the impasse sort of crumbles.”

Harris said the group hopes to get the measure on the June ballot.

If successful, the new Carson Unified School District would serve about 21,500 students. A board of five at-large members would be elected at the same time.

Carson’s success contrasted with the board’s refusal in March 1999 to allow an election to form a 2,000-student district in the small South Bay city of Lomita.

Board members said a separate district would upset the racial balance of the area’s schools and disrupt its educational program. State law requires that any new district not cause significant disparities in racial balance or resources.

After a hearing last month, officials at the state Department of Education recommended approval of the Carson proposal, finding that the new district would not promote racial segregation or discrimination and that the proposal adequately addressed curriculum, facilities and financial viability issues.

Stephanie Carter, the leader of a group that is trying to separate the San Fernando Valley into two independent school districts, praised the board’s action.

The Valley proposal also is pending before the state board.

Other groups in the Southeast and South Bay areas, as well as -Gardena, are pushing proposals to get out of L.A. Unified.