VALLEY SCHOOL CONTROL PLANS DISCUSSED.Byline: Jason Kandel Staff Writer VAN NUYS - About 75 people attended 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. Unified School District's meeting Wednesday night at Birmingham High School Birmingham High School is a public coeducational high school in the neighborhood/district of Lake Balboa in the San Fernando Valley section of the city of Los Angeles, California. The school is a part of District One of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). at which officials discussed a plan by interim Superintendent Ramon Cortines to decentralize de·cen·tral·ize v. de·cen·tral·ized, de·cen·tral·iz·ing, de·cen·tral·iz·es v.tr. 1. To distribute the administrative functions or powers of (a central authority) among several local authorities. the district by dividing it into 11 semiautonomous sem·i·au·ton·o·mous adj. 1. Partially self-governing. 2. Having the powers of self-government within a larger organization or structure. sem parts. Some residents said it was time to break up the district to make it more responsive to community needs, but not everyone agreed. Community members and parents filled out blue note cards with their questions for the Van Nuys panel of district administrators. The panel read more than 50 of them. The queries ranged from whether school board meetings would be held in the Valley and whether the district would be accessible to parents to whether ``political gamesmanship'' would continue. ``We live in a political world. We just hope politics won't get in the way,'' responded lead panelist pan·el·ist n. A member of a panel. Noun 1. panelist - a member of a panel panellist panel - a group of people gathered for a special purpose as to plan or discuss an issue or judge a contest etc Deborah Leidner, a cluster administrator in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. . All questions will be taken to Cortines for review. Other residents expressed their opinions outside the meeting. Tony Alcala, a Sun Valley community activist, said the plan sounded good in concept. ``But in reality, it's garbage,'' he said. ``Instead, I'd like to see the board sign on to giving the superintendent more power and resources, but it's not going to happen.'' Courtney Webb, the mother of a Valley student, said she believes breaking up the district is a good idea. ``There have been a lot of complaints the district is too big and unwieldly,'' Webb said. ``This should have been done a long time ago.'' |
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