LCUSD board revisits hot topics

Last year’s hot topics received a New Year’s makeover Tuesday, as the La Cañada Unified Governing Board readopted a resolution supporting the possible transfer of territory near the city’s western boundaries from Glendale Unified School District to LCUSD and announced the official kickoff of the Measure LC parcel tax campaign.

While the board initially passed a resolution supporting the community’s request for a territory transfer in August, it was brought back for readoption to allow newly-elected board members Kaitzer Puglia, Dan Jeffries and David Sagal to show their support.

Superintendent Wendy Sinnette said it was important to emphasize the unanimity of district support as talks with Glendale school officials continue.

“Negotiations with Glendale Unified School District are still ongoing and still positive, and we hope to (soon) have a report, but things have been on a bit of a hiatus over the winter holiday,” Sinnette added.

Not wanting to impact those negotiations, the board discussed and then indefinitely tabled talks of possibly re-prioritizing the order in which accepts transfer students into the district to give “Sagebrush” students priority over those students who live outside La Cañada but whose parents work within district boundaries. Sinnette said the matter was initially brought to her attention by a Sagebrush parent.

Currently, students whose parents are LCUSD employees or physically work within school district boundaries are given higher priority in the interdistrict transfer process and do not require a release from their home districts in order to transfer. Sagebrush students, on the other hand, must be released by Glendale Unified before a transfer can be approved.

Jeffries said making it easier for Sagebrush students to transfer this way could possibly run counter to La Cañada’s negotiations with Glendale for the larger territory transfer.

“This does not seem like a solution,” Jeffries said. “In fact, this may set us back.”

Board President Ellen Multari agreed, saying a reordering could possibly appear to be more of a solution to the larger issue than it really would be.

Sinnette weighed in, saying that putting students who require a release ahead of those who do not could become problematic if Glendale Unified were to hold up the approval of releases, waylaying the process and possibly preventing students of La Cañada employees from being able to transfer.

Ultimately, the board agreed to table the matter while negotiations remain ongoing.

In other news, the phone bank for the Measure LC parcel tax campaign made its first call Tuesday evening, according to board member Andrew Blumenfeld, who sits on the district’s parcel tax subcommittee.

Callers have been set up in the Prudential Realty office on Foothill Boulevard, where they will reach out to registered voters by phone Monday through Thursday, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. through March 4, the day the mail-in ballots are due.

“The campaign is now, after the holidays, well underway,” Blumenfeld said. “A lot of work has been done to lay the groundwork over the last several months. This is where the preparation turns to execution.”

The official website of the campaign, which also has its own Facebook page, is www.yesonLC.org.

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