SCHOOL BOARD, UNIONS REACH DEAL ON BELMONT.Byline: Terri Hardy Daily News Staff Writer The Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Board of Education voted unanimously Monday to pay two unions $90,000 to drop a lawsuit that threatened the proposed Belmont Learning Complex, which would be the most expensive high school in the state. The deal also requires United Teachers Los Angeles, one of the unions, to drop opposition to the school system's attempts to obtain state grants for Belmont, said Pat Spencer, spokesman for 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. . Although the board ratified the deal Monday, the offer was made to the unions last week following a closed-door meeting at which no votes were taken. An attorney for the LAUSD LAUSD Los Angeles Unified School District (Los Angeles, CA) said he was instructed by a district official to make the offer of $90,000, to pay attorney fees. Last week's private discussion of the settlement by the panel had not been included in the agenda, prompting a few board members to argue that it was a violation of the state's open-meeting laws. Attorney's for the LAUSD have countered that the board had acted within the law. The deal was brokered a day before the State Allocation Board agreed to allow construction to begin on the $155 million Belmont project. UTLA UTLA United Teachers of Los Angeles (California) and the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union The Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union (HERE), was a United States labor union representing workers of the hospitality industry, formed in 1891. In 2004, HERE merged with the Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees (UNITE) to form UNITE HERE. Local 11 filed suit when their leaders learned the district intended to use Proposition BB bond money to pay for Belmont - without first gaining approval from the Proposition BB Blue Ribbon blue ribbon denotes highest honor. [Western Folklore: Brewer Dictionary, 127] See : Prize Citizens Oversight Committee. UTLA officials have said they have agreed to drop the lawsuit because they are satisfied the Belmont project now has sufficient oversight from the citizens panel. Also, the district has hired an independent construction management company, and Belmont is under review by the citizens panel and a joint legislative audit committee. ``The lawsuit was brought as a public service to cause the school district to do the right thing, and the litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. was successful on that score,'' said senior research analyst David Koff. However, Local 11 will continue to oppose state matching funds for Belmont as it is proposed, Koff said. |
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