L.A. School Board Retains Romer

In a show of support for the city’s school chief, the Los Angeles Board of Education announced late Tuesday night that it would allow Supt. Roy Romer to serve the final year of his contract.

Faced with a Friday deadline on the matter, board members met in an unusual, late-night closed session Tuesday.

At the end of the meeting, board President Marlene Canter read a statement announcing that Romer would remain and commended him for his work.

She said afterward that she read the statement to clarify the board’s support for the superintendent amid speculation that some members were dissatisfied with his leadership and had tried to amend the contract to postpone until December the decision on whether to keep him.

The board hired Romer in 2000 and extended his contract in 2004 until June 2007. Under the terms of the agreement, either side had until Friday to opt out of the last year of the contract.

The decision to retain Romer comes at a critical time for the 742,000-student district. His leadership is seen as crucial to persuading voters to approve a nearly $4-billion school construction bond issue on the November ballot. The money, district officials have said, is needed to complete L.A. Unified’s massive building program aimed at ending severe crowding.