CITY MIGHT SEEK REFUNDS FROM LAUSD COUNCIL MEMBERS SAY SCHOOL DISTRICT TAKING SERVICES FOR GRANTED.

Byline: KERRY CAVANAUGH Staff Writer

From crossing guards to conflict resolution training, the city spends more than $52 million a year for services that help the Los Angeles Unified School District, according to a city report released Friday.

It's a big bill, and some City Council members said Friday that they want the LAUSD to reimburse at least some of the expenses.

``They need to start offering a hand back to us if they want to find some support around the city,'' said Councilman Greig Smith, who requested the report last September after city staffers and resources were sent to help quell violence at local high schools.

The violence came at the same time when the school district refused to build more parking or traffic controls at a proposed Granada Hills high school, despite community concern about traffic jams.

``They need to show us a little more respect than they've shown us in the past,'' Smith said of the district. ``If they don't start showing us some respect then we might have to start seeking reimbursement for some of these services.''

But LAUSD officials on Friday bristled at the report, saying Smith and city officials overlooked concessions and services the district has provided to the city.

``I'm rather shocked by the report. It's our belief that we have bent over backwards to be a good neighbor,'' said Kevin Reed, LAUSD general counsel.

Recalling City Controller Laura Chick's high-profile campaign to audit the LAUSD, school board member David Tokofsky suggested that the city send the report and supporting documents to the district for review.

``We have data on (the city) overcharging us. If they have data on services ... let's get those documents to our auditors right away,'' he said.

The tension between the city and district over fees and services has been simmering for months. The LAUSD has sued the Department of Water and Power for allegedly overcharging the district $90 million for electricity, and the two agencies have battled over who should pay for streetlights and street widening at new school sites.

The LAUSD argues that its voter-approved bond money can be spent only on classrooms, not needed sewers and street improvements. But city leaders have pushed the school district to address community traffic concerns with some funds from the $20 billion in school-construction bonds.

The debate takes on a more intense pitch now, as Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is pursuing more power over the school district against the wishes of the LAUSD administration.

Reed said while the district now can protect its school-construction bond money from city leaders who might use it for things other than classrooms, he fears that would change under Villaraigosa's reform plan.

``The city would always call the shots,'' Reed said. ``There would no longer be a healthy competition over agencies; it would simply be the Department of Water and Power and Department of Transportation using our bond funds in ways voters didn't anticipate.''

When asked whether the city should seek reimbursement for city services provided to the district, Mayor's Office spokeswoman Janelle Erickson said: ``The mayor believes we should be expanding our partnership with the school district, not limiting it.''

Aside from the power struggle for the LAUSD, observers said public services often overlap and the city will get into tricky territory if it starts charging other government agencies for services.

Pepperdine University Associate Professor of Public Policy Michael Shires agreed that $52 million is a lot of money to spend on services, but said it's the city's choice and thus its responsibility to pay.

``That would be like California deciding it needs to build a nuclear submarine, building a nuclear submarine, and then trying to get the federal government to pay for it,'' Shires said.

``The city saw a need to fill. If a city chooses not to provide that service anymore, it's within its discretion to do that.''

Councilman Bernard Parks, who heads the City Council's Budget and Finance Committee, wants the city to get paid for some of the services provided to the district. But, he said, he's not willing to cut valuable programs -- such as after-school programs, free lunches and on-campus gang intervention projects -- if the LAUSD won't chip in.

``It's one of those things we feel compelled to do. It's a lot of money but I haven't seen a program yet that we can say, `Yes, this can go away.'''

According to the report, the city's engineering, transportation, planning, community development, police, human relations, and water and power departments spend about $109 million per year for LAUSD support services.

The LAUSD reimburses the city for about half of those costs, or $56.7 million, primarily for water and power bills and engineering fees to review school building projects.

The city's Recreation and Parks Department didn't provide cost estimates for its services, but said the district uses city ballfields, gyms and pools.

That leaves the city with roughly $52.3 million in unreimbursed services including:

About $72,000 in waived engineering fees.

About $9 million for crossing guards at busy intersections near schools.

Some $3.8 million for maps showing walking routes to school and maintaining school warning signs and school loading zone signs.

Nearly $15 million from the city's general fund for the LA's BEST after-school program and LA Bridges gang-prevention program.

$5.3 million for 36 LAPD officers who respond to incidents at LAUSD campuses (they do other police work as well).

$700,000 for booking roughly 2,100 suspects arrested by LAUSD police in the LAPD jail.

$610,000 for mediation and conflict resolution training with LAUSD students, parents and teachers following school violence.

In the city report, City Administrative Officer Bill Fujioka acknowledged the substantial costs but advised not to push for district reimbursement.

Most of the services are part of the city's core mission and responsibilities, he wrote.

Plus, the school district partners with the city and provides its own services to city residents.

``Requesting reimbursement for the city's portion of the partnerships could undermine the cooperative relationship and ultimately result in a diminished level of service,'' Fujioka wrote.

kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com

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