BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES
Governing Board of the Los Angeles Unified School District

SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES
333 South Beaudry Avenue, Board Room
10:00 a.m., Tuesday, July 6, 2004

The Board of Education of the City of Los Angeles, acting as the Governing Board of the
Los Angeles Unified School District, met in special session on July 6, 2004, at the Administrative Offices, 333 South Beaudry Avenue, Board Room.

President José Huizar called the meeting to order at 10:16 a.m.

The following Members were present: Ms. Marlene Canter, Ms. Julie Korenstein, Ms. Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte, Mr. Jon Lauritzen, and President José Huizar were present. Mr. Mike Lansing and Mr. David Tokofsky arrived at 10:29 a.m. and 10:18 a.m, respectively.

Ms. Canter led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Superintendent Romer was present.

PROCESS USED FOR RECONFIGURATION OF LOCAL DISTRICTS AND THE SELECTION OF PERSONNEL

President Huizar remarked that after the Board voted to consolidate the local districts to 8 an interest was expressed by Board Members in getting an update on the process used in the reconfiguration and selection of personnel. He also advised Board Members of the possibility of going into closed session should the Board wish to discuss specific personnel issues.

Superintendent Romer began his presentation by indicating that one of the provisions of the previous reorganization to 11 districts provided for the assignment of certificated personnel, including teachers and administrators, to either a 2 or 3 year staggered term in order to bring the recency of their classroom and administrative experience to the local district offices and to provide a flow of fresh ideas in the delivery of instructional, methodology, and management of support services.

Superintendent Romer briefly discussed the assignment lists of K-12 school based administrators and local districts staff, including the reassignment of personnel as a result of the Board's June 8, 2004 action to reduce the number of local districts. He also discussed the summary of the actual changes in the 2004-05 budget for the local districts and indicated the cuts were a little larger than anticipated as the District transitions to 8 local districts. He admitted the communication process with some of the personnel involved should have been more graceful, but the short timeline dictated the fast pace under which everyone was operating.

Superintendent Romer proceeded to highlight the process used in selecting Local District Directors, which started before the Board acted to reduce the number of local districts. The process included:


Superintendent Romer indicated there was no eligibility list of candidates established and addressed the concerns expressed to Board Members about the selection process. He mentioned that experience along with a demonstrated capacity to improve student achievement were the major factors in selecting the new Directors. He also explained that due to the small pool of applicants, interviews were canceled and instead the local district superintendents had access to everyone in the pool. He further stated that since an eligibility list was not created, he felt there was no need for unsuccessful candidates to review why they were not selected in a formal process and reiterated that candidates who were not selected should not be considered unsuccessful.

The final selection was made by mutual agreement between Superintendent Romer and the Local District Superintendents. Superintendent Romer commented that the shaping of this leadership team is one of the most important matters he has handled as Superintendent, and that he is committed to working with Local District Superintendents to make sure each team is successful, to try to heal bruises by staff members affected from this process, and to assign them to jobs where their talents are most needed.

The following speakers addressed the Board on this matter:

Mr. Michael O'Sullivan representing Associated Administrators of Los Angeles (AALA)

Mr. Dan Basalone representing AALA

Superintendent Romer and Deborah Hirsh, Chief Human Resource Officer, responded to questions regarding the number of directors kept, reassigned, and newly hired, as well as the use of Board Rule 4214 and other issues. Mr. Crain explained that Board Rule 4214 along with all the other 4,000 series Board Rules were eliminated and replaced with administrative regulations by the Superintendent.

Board Members stressed the need for good communication in order to be successful and not repeat the same mistakes again, particularly for those individuals who were not selected. Another issue addressed by Board Members was the lack of clear criteria in the assignment of leadership roles.
Board Members requested a six-month review and evaluation process on the work performed by the local leadership. Superintendent Romer stated he would provide a report to the Human Resource Committee in six months and emphasized the need to have flexible and not rigid personnel policies to be able to improve the conditions of the District.

In response to questions from Board Members, Superintendent Romer provided the criteria used for the Director of Support Services and Administrator of Instructional Services:


Superintendent Romer responded to questions regarding the definition and selection process for the Ombudsman position, the Director's job responsibilities, whether to use numbers or letters in naming the local districts, and the salary level of local district personnel among others.

Superintendent Romer assured the Board his intention to keep disruptions to a very minimum during this time of consolidation.

On motion by Ms. Canter, seconded by Mr. Lauritzen , and by general consent, the meeting adjourned at 12:34 p.m. Ms. Korenstein and Mr. Lansing were absent.

APPROVED BY THE BOARD: August 24, 2004




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JOSE HUIZAR JEFFERSON CRAIN
PRESIDENT EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF THE BOARD