Board’s Behavior Could Jeopardize Its New Authority

Only weeks after regaining some of their powers lost in a state takeover, members of Compton’s school board are disrupting district operations, threatening to fire employees and breaking confidentiality laws, according to a coming state report.

“This behavior is alarming,” says the report by the state’s Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team, to be made public March 27. “Some board members want to administer the district rather than to govern by policy. The Compton board needs to embrace the proper exercise of its governing authority.”

If board members do not behave more responsibly, the document says, the move toward local control could be reversed, and the board could once again be stripped of power.

That’s what happened in 1993, when the state took over the school district because of widespread financial corruption and low student test scores. This January, citing modest improvements over the past eight years, state schools Supt. Delaine Eastin took the first step toward restoring local control, granting the board limited authority over facilities and public relations.

The new report recommends an extension of local control to include oversight of areas from textbooks to testing. Tom Henry, the crisis team’s chief administrative officer, said he saw signs of “real progress” in the district.

But leaders of the team, whose reports are used by Eastin to make decisions on how and when to restore full local control, said the document also serves as a rebuke and warning to the board.

“I would be remiss . . . if I didn’t point out to them that that’s an area we’re going to be paying close attention to,” Henry said in a telephone interview. “Hopefully, this will be a little bit of a wake-up call.”

Eastin had not seen the report and had no comment on its contents Friday.

Without giving names or specific dates, the report says that in recent weeks board members “have visited school sites and district offices, and/or made telephone calls to employees, directing their work” and changing schedules.

Some board members have threatened to fire employees once local control is fully returned, according to the document.

In one instance, witnessed by a Times reporter, board member Basil Kimbrew took over a courtyard at Centennial High School to protest the principal’s actions. In another case, a board member, identified by district officials as Saul E. Lankster, is said to have demanded that a high school gym be painted ahead of schedule.

The same board member is said to have discussed with the media the firing of the Dominguez High School basketball coach, who is under indictment on charges of sexual abuse. Such personnel information is confidential.

Kimbrew and Lankster, both of whom are candidates for Compton mayor, called the criticism unfair and said they would not be deterred by it.

“I’m outspoken, and I won’t apologize for it,” Kimbrew said.

Lankster said Friday that he was proud to have championed the case of the basketball coach, a friend of Lankster’s who, he said, was being “railroaded” by the district.

He also contended that the state has no intention of returning full control to the Compton board, and called the report an attempt to limit his constitutional rights.

“I will not be silent,” Lankster said.

Other board members declined to comment, saying they had not had time to read the report.

The criticism of board members represents only a section of the 252-page report. The document is the product of a legally required, twice-annual study of the district by the crisis team.

The team ranks the district’s performance in five categories--community relations, facilities, personnel, financial management and pupil achievement--on a 10-point scale, with 10 being highest.

When the district reaches 6 in one category, the state crisis team recommends that the board be given limited authority over that area. The board will receive full authority over the district once Compton achieves an average score of 7.5 in all categories, state officials say.

In last fall’s report, the district surpassed 6 in community relations and facilities, leading to January’s limited return of authority.

This new report says the district has made progress in every category and now has surpassed 6 in the rankings on pupil achievement. Test scores are up at a majority of the district’s 34 schools, and textbooks have been purchased for all students who need them, the report says.

As a result, the crisis team recommends restoring the board’s authority to oversee achievement of Compton’s 31,037 pupils.

“We think, for the most part, this is a very positive report, which shows real progress,” Henry said. “As for the board, we think it provides an opportunity for them to focus on what’s important . . . and to work on their governance.”