BORROWING PLAN OK'D FOR SCHOOL MODERNIZATION LAUSD TO TAKE $250 MILLION UNTIL NEW FUNDS ARE FOUND.Byline: Helen Helen, in Greek mythology, the most beautiful of women; daughter of Leda and Zeus, and sister of Castor and Pollux and Clytemnestra. While still a young girl Helen was abducted to Attica by Theseus and Polydeuces, but Castor and Pollux rescued her. Gao Staff Writer Running out of money to finish modernization modernization Transformation of a society from a rural and agrarian condition to a secular, urban, and industrial one. It is closely linked with industrialization. As societies modernize, the individual becomes increasingly important, gradually replacing the family, projects promised under Proposition BB, the Los Angeles school The Los Angeles School of Urbanism is an academic movement emerged during the mid-1980s, loosely based at the University of Southern California and UCLA, that poses a challenge to the dominant Chicago School of Urbanism. board Tuesday opted to borrow $250 million from the Measure K bond issue as bridge financing Bridge Financing A method of financing, used by companies before their IPO, to obtain necessary cash for the maintenance of operations. Notes: These funds are usually supplied by the investment bank underwriting the new issue. to continue renovation work until the district can win passage of another bond measure in March. The board approved the plan 5-1 with Marguerite Marguerite, for French women thus named, use Margaret Marguerite. For French women thus named, use Margaret. marguerite, in botany marguerite: see daisy. LaMotte voting no and board member David Tokofsky abstaining, after two hours of contentious debate about the legality le·gal·i·ty n. pl. le·gal·i·ties 1. The state or quality of being legal; lawfulness. 2. Adherence to or observance of the law. 3. A requirement enjoined by law. Often used in the plural. and implications of the action. Under the plan, if the yet-to-be-determined March bond fails, the board will have to decide whether to borrow money in the financial market by issuing certificates of participation to repay the Measure K account. The certificates of participation debt will in turn be shouldered by the already overburdened o·ver·bur·den tr.v. o·ver·bur·dened, o·ver·bur·den·ing, o·ver·bur·dens 1. To burden with too much weight; overload. 2. To subject to an excessive burden or strain; overtax. n. 1. general fund - the same fund that pays for teacher salaries and health benefits, classroom supplies and other school expenses. ``It's not pretty what we are doing, but at the end of the day we need to deliver these much-needed projects to our schools,'' said school board President Jose Huizar. When voters approved the $2.4 billion Proposition BB bond measure in 1997, the Los Angeles Unified School District The Los Angeles Unified School District (the "LAUSD") is the largest (in terms of number of students) public school system in California and the second-largest in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population. promised to complete 12,000 modernization projects, but about 2,000 projects in 550 schools remain unfinished today. If the board were to reject the financing plan, the modernization program would be halted. Many of the unfinished projects involve installing vital safety and technology devices, such as alarms and public address systems, promised to schools long ago. Because of mismanagement mis·man·age tr.v. mis·man·aged, mis·man·ag·ing, mis·man·ag·es To manage badly or carelessly. mis·man  age·ment n. and poor estimates of project scope and costs, the district earlier disclosed that it faced a $600 million deficit in covering all the work promised by Proposition BB. ``These are real projects that affect students and teachers at our schools,'' said Jim Delker, the district's deputy chief facilities executive. Officials insisted that borrowing money from the $3.35 billion Measure K bond measure would not affect projects promised under the bond, because many of the projects are not ready for construction and the money is merely sitting in a bank. While the board as a whole agreed existing schools need to be upgraded, Tokofsky questioned whether it was legal for the district to use Measure K as bridge financing. He asked the board to delay action until next week pending a written legal opinion. The district's interim legal counsel said the action was legal, but special counsel to the board said he could not make the determination without research. Tokofsky noted historically that school districts have repaid certificates of participation debt using the general fund, property taxes, parcel taxes and redevelopment taxes and that the district is setting a precedent borrowing money from a general obligation bond, which was approved to pay for specific projects. The district already has $820 million in debt from certificates of participation, with a repayment load that tops $80 million a year. Helen Gao, (818) 713-3741 helen.gao(at)dailynews.com |
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