I. Roll Call of Members

II. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag

III. Students' Concerns

Erin Lacey from El Camino Real High School, Hallie Silverston from Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies, and Stephanie Friedman from Taft High School

A. Board of Education Report No. 1 ADOPTED
Office of Environmental Health and Safety No. 1

(Approval of Mitigated Negative Declaration and Approval of Project‹The Accelerated School Expansion Project)

(Award of Advertised, Unadvertised and Informal Contracts, Default of Contractor, Award of Contracts to Next Lowest Responsive Bidder, Rejection of Bids, and Cancellation of Contract)

(Authorization for Staff to Proceed with the Expenditure of Funds for Real Estate Due Diligence, Environmental Studies and Design Activities Required to Deliver the Proposed Escutia Projects at the Specific Sites Listed in Attachments A-F)

(Authorization for Staff to Proceed with the Expenditure of Funds for Real Estate Due Diligence, Environmental Studies and Design Activities Required to Deliver the Proposed Priority Projects at the Specific Sites Listed in Attachments A-C)

D. Board of Education Report No. 3 ADOPTED
Business Services Division No. 1

(Ratification of Agreements and Amendments, Agreements for Professional Services Over $250,000, Agreements for Professional Services Aggregating Over $250,000, and Amendment to Agreement for Professional Services Aggregating Over $250,000)

(Delegation of Authority for School-Wide Use of API Award Funds)

F. Board of Education Report No. 5 ADOPTED AS AMENDED
(Student Expulsions)

G. Board of Education Report No. 6 ADOPTED
(Nonroutine Personnel Actions: Election of Unclassified Employees to Professional Expert, Classified Employee Demotion and Dismissals)

H. Board of Education Report No. 7 ADOPTED
(Nonroutine Personnel Actions: Election of Unclassified Employees to Professional Expert, Classified Employee Demotion and Dismissals)

I. Board of Education Report No. 8 ADOPTED
(Various Purchasing Transactions)

J. Board of Education Report No. 9 ADOPTED
(Routine Personnel Actions)

VII. Motions and Resolutions for Action
K. Mr. Tokofsky - Carson as a Separate School District (Noticed February 13, 2001) FAILED

Resolved, That the Board of Education of the City of Los Angeles direct the Superintendent and staff to provide to the local communities affected all of the relevant financial and educational implications of the Carson proposal for a separate school district. º

Whereas, The Los Angeles Unified School District is undertaking a vigorous effort to improve its facilities and meet the needs of students in the 21st century, through new construction and significant building modernizations and alterations utilizing Proposition BB funding;

Whereas, The majority of the District's school campuses are now over a half-century old, and special attention is necessary in order to ensure that long-overdue rehabilitation and expansion projects do not adversely affect these schools' most treasured features;

Whereas, A community outcry arose in 1999 at Lincoln High School when much-needed air conditioning units were installed insensitively, marring the school's most historic elements;

Whereas, The District currently lacks any comprehensive inventory of which schools have historic value and lacks design standards to guide modernization work at historic schools;

Whereas, The District, with the assistance of the Los Angeles Conservancy, obtained a $50,000 grant from the Getty Grant Program's "Preserve LA" project to conduct an inventory of the District's most historic schools;

Whereas, District staff lacks any specialized historic preservation expertise necessary to guide and implement this grant, and to assist in making daily multimillion dollar decisions on historic schools;

Whereas, District staff can build on the Getty Grant activities by developing its own set of design guidelines for historic schools, saving considerable time and money on each individual project by solving from the outset the District's programmatic and facilities needs at historic campuses;

Whereas, Schools represent the heart of every community and the public face of education to every neighborhood ­ fixing in the community's mind either positive or negative images of what takes place behind the school walls; and

Whereas, Denver, Colorado's school district has created an award-winning curriculum involving students in linking the rich history of their schools to the history of their city and neighborhoods -- an opportunity currently missed here in Los Angeles; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Board of Education of the City of Los Angeles approve creation of a Historic Preservation Coordinator for the District, a position with significant professional experience in historic preservation and architecture; and be it

Resolved further, That the Historic Preservation Coordinator: 1) help complete the District's historic school inventory; 2) develop comprehensive design guidelines for rehabilitation of historic schools; 3) review rehabilitation and modernization projects affecting the District's historic schools; and 4) coordinate, with assistance from the District's curriculum staff and an outside curriculum consultant, a model program involving District students in understanding local history by learning about the history of their own school; and be it finally

Resolved, That the District approve $100,000 in salary and benefits for this position, with $40,000 for salary and benefits for administrative support and $35,000 for a curriculum consultant for the model local history program, for a total of $175,000. º

Whereas, Diesel exhaust has been identified by the State of California as a known human carcinogen, and diesel particulate and over 40 chemical components of diesel exhaust have been identified by the California Air Resources Board as toxic air contaminants;

Whereas, The South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) concluded in its Multiple Air Toxics Exposure Study, released in March 2000, that diesel exhaust is responsible for over 70 percent of the cancer risk from breathing the air in the South Coast Air Basin;

Whereas, Diesel exhaust is also known to be a major source of fine particles, which aggravate heart and respiratory problems, increase the risk for asthma attacks and cause premature death, and of oxides of nitrogen (NOx), which combine with hydrocarbons to form smog and have been connected to decreased lung function growth in children;

Whereas, Children are known to be among those most susceptible to the negative health effects of diesel exhaust exposure for many reasons, including that a child's developing body is less capable of defending itself against pollutants such as diesel particles, that children typically breathe at twice the rate of an adult, thereby receiving and retaining greater doses of pollution, and that children tend to breath through their mouths, thereby by passing the natural filtering protection of the nose;

Whereas, Cleaner alternatives to new diesel school buses exist, including natural gas school buses, that are widely available, that have been proven to be durable, and that emit less NOx, particulate matter and air toxics than a new diesel school bus;

Whereas, The SCAQMD has proposed Rule 1195 which will require school districts to purchase, lease, or contract only buses that run on cleaner, alternative fuels, such as natural gas, instead of on diesel fuel, provided that adequate funding is available, from sources other than the General Fund or categorical funds that have supported District Operations, to cover the incremental cost of the cleaner bus; and

Whereas, The proposed rule also provides an exemption to the requirement to purchase an alternative fuel bus where there is no commercially available bus for a specific engine, chassis and body configuration necessary for a specific school bus route; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Board of Education of the City of Los Angeles does hereby support adoption of Rule 1195, as proposed with expanded exemptions, by the South Coast Air Quality Management District, provided that cleaner buses are commercially available in the configurations that would meet the needs of the District, and that adequate external funding is available to cover the incremental costs of the cleaner buses, as well as $8,000 per bus to cover necessary infrastructure costs, so as to preclude encroachment on the General Fund or other current District categorical funds; and be it

Resolved further, That the Superintendent direct appropriate staff to communicate the Board's position to the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

Whereas, The Los Angeles Unified School District finds that violence is a complex public health and safety problem and that youth are highly concerned about violence both as a national issue and in their personal lives;

Whereas, The national data compiled by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Center for Education Statistics, and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention show that in 1998 students ages twelve through eighteen were victims of more than 2,700,000 total crimes at school, and that 253,000 of these crimes were violent crimes such as sexual assault including rape, aggravated assault, and robbery;

Whereas, According to the National Center for Victims of Crime, 1,872 women are forcibly raped every day; sixty-two percent (62%) of rape survivors are less than eighteen years old; and twenty-two percent (22%) of rape survivors are between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four;

Whereas, In December 2000, concerned students from the Los Angeles Unified School District held a rally and requested that the District acknowledge and address the issues of rape and sexual assault;

Whereas, April has been designated Sexual Assault Awareness Month by the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Board of Education of the City of Los Angeles designate April 2001 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

O. That the effective date for "Medicare Only" coverage referenced in the Resolution

attached to Board of Education Report No. 9, adopted January 23, 2001, changed from January 1, 2002, to November 5, 2001, to provide additional quarters of Medicare- qualifying credit for employees electing coverage.

(The Board will decide which are to be referred as Consent Calendar communications)

Board of Education
P. Office of the Superintendent No. 1 REGULAR

(Adoption of the 2000-03 Memorandum of Understanding Between the LAUSD and Associated Administrators of Los Angeles (AALA), and the 2000-01 Compensation Package and Other Recommendations for District Represented Employees)

R. Office of the Superintendent No. 3 PUBLIC HEARING CONSENT
(Multicultural Learning Center Charter Petition)

S. Business Services Division No. 1 REGULAR

(Ratification of Agreements and Amendments, Agreements for Professional Services Aggregating Over $250,000, and Donation of Money)

U. Facilities Services Division No. 2 CONSENT

(Resolution of Intention to Dedicate an Easement and Right of Way to Pacific Bell‹ Belmont/Hollywood Primary Center No. 3)

Business, Finance, Audit and Technology Committee
W. Business Services Division No. 1 REGULAR
(Modifications and Additions to Delegation of Authority)

Curriculum and Instruction Committee
X. Educational Services Division No. 1 REGULAR
(District's Mathematics Plan)

Facilities Committee
Y. Facilities Services Division No. 1 CONSENT

(Authorization for Staff to Proceed with the Expenditure of Fund for Real Estate Due Diligence, Environmental Studies and Design Activities Required to Deliver Noble New Elementary School No.1 at the Specific Site Listed)

X. Approval of Minutes APPROVED AS CORRECTED

Z. 2:00 p.m., Regular Meeting, February 27, 2001
9:30 a.m., Closed Session, March 20, 2001

XI. Correspondence and Petitions

AA. Report of Correspondence PUBLIC HEARING APPROVED

XII. Miscellaneous Business

Motions and Resolutions (Draft Language)

BB. Ms. Fields - Healthy Foods (March 13, 2001) Assigned to School Safety and Campus Environment Committee

Whereas, A recent study by the United States Department of Agriculture has shown that junk food that students consume at school is contributing to obesity and other health problems;

Whereas, Studies have shown that consumption of a well balanced meal contributes to higher student achievement;

Whereas, The Los Angeles Unified School District has an obligation to instruct its students about the value of healthy eating;

Whereas, Many of the foods served in District schools are high in fat, salt and sugar content; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Board of Education of the City of Los Angeles direct the Superintendent to assign appropriate staff to undertake an analysis of foods served in our schools, with respect to their fat, salt and sugar content; and be it further

Resolved, that staff recommend a policy that will lead to better health through nutrition for District students.

Whereas, The Los Angeles Unified School District has undertaken a massive program of building new schools;

Whereas, Schools have been traditionally named after heroes, distinguished citizens and upstanding members of the community;

Whereas, The late Congressmen James C. Corman and Julian C. Dixon were products of the District;

Whereas, Congressman Corman faithfully served on the Los Angeles City Council from 1957-1960;

Whereas, James Corman honorably served in Congress, representing California's 21st District for 20 years;

Whereas, Congressman Dixon served in the California State Assembly for 6 years;

Whereas, Julian Dixon honorably served in Congress, representing California's 32nd District for 22 years;

Whereas, Both Congressman Corman and Congressman Dixon were champions of civil rights; and

Whereas, Both men worked tirelessly for the benefit of District children and employees; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Board of Education of the City of Los Angeles direct the Superintendent to name a new school after each of these men, in the geographically appropriate Local District.

Ms. Fields will comment on the following:

• Welby Way School ­ Visit from United States Department of Education

• El Camino Real High School State Academic Decathlon Champion

• Opening of the Los Angeles Oiled Bird Care and Education Center in San Pedro
  
• San Pedro High School Performance at the State Academic Decathlon Competition

• Folklorico Groups from Franciso Bravo Medical Magnet and Wilson High School

Ms. Young will comment on the following:

• Korean American Educators Association Conference

XIII. Adjournment

Please Note That The Board Of Education May Refer Any Item On This Order Of Business For The Consideration Of A Standing Committee Of The Board Of Education Which Meets On The Thursday Immediately After This Meeting.

Members Of The Public Who Wish To Address The Board Regarding Items On This Agenda Should Call The Board Secretariat At Area Code (213) 625-6273 Or (818) 997-2300, Extension 6273, Prior To 10:00 A.M. The Day Of The Meeting To Determine If They May Be Added To The Speakers' List.