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The Lakewood Unified School
District Organizing Committee
4067 Hardwick St., #156 Lakewood,
CA 90712
(562) 496-3559 or
e-mail us
Working Together For Our Kids
Questions and
Answers About
The Lakewood Unified School District
For answers to the following questions, just click on the
question.
- Do we have to buy the school buildings from the old school districts?
- Do the other school districts have to agree to Lakewood leaving?
- Does 25 % of all the existing school district registered voters have to sign the petition?
- Is this about race?
- What happens to the current school employees?
- Will the Lakewood Unified School District have Magnet programs?
- How will the Lakewood Unified School District be funded?
- Will taxes have to be raised to pay for the creation of the L.U.S.D.?
- What are the steps in the process?
- Who votes on approving the new district?
- How long do we have to circulate the petition?
- What criterion will the County use?
- How long will the process take?
- How can I help?
Return to LUSD Organizing Committee Homepage
Q: Does the new Lakewood Unified School District have to buy the school buildings from the former school districts?
A: No. Recent changes to the laws of the State of California make it easier to form a new district. Under the current laws, any school buildings in the newly approved school District area become the property of the new school district. This means that the Lakewood Unified School District, when approved, will not have to buy any school buildings currently located in the proposed school district.
Q: Do the other school districts have to agree to allow the Lakewood Unified School District to be formed?
A: No. The matter is not up to them. It is up
to the voters. The matter does go faster if all of the affected
school districts school boards agree to Lakewood secession, but
this is not necessary. It just makes it easier and faster.
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Q: Do 25% of the registered voters in each school district have to sign the petition?
A: No. To get the matter to the state and on
the ballot, 25% of the registered voters in the Lakewood
Unified School District area of each of the four current
school districts must sign the petition. So only the voters in
the proposed school district must sign the petition. The matter
can go to the county with as little as 10% of the voters, but 25%
is preferred. Example: 25% of the voters within the Lakewood City
Limits and Lakewood Village who are part of the Long Beach
Unified School District must sign the petition, as must 25% of
the registered voters within the Lakewood City Limits of the
Bellflower School District.
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Q: Who votes on the formation of the Lakewood Unified School District?
A: The registered voters within an area as
determined by the State Board of Education. This area may be as
small as the limits of the proposed Lakewood Unified School
District or it may include nearby affected areas. It could be as
large as all registered voters in all of the affected school
districts. The exact area will be determined by the State Board
of Education.
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Q: How long do we have to get the petitions signed?
A: There is no time limit on how long we can
take to get all the signatures we need.
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A: No. Anyone who is motivated by racial
bigotry is not welcomed by the Organizing Committee. This
is not about race, it is about
neighborhood schools. All children, regardless of race,
religion, or nationality are entitled to a quality education in
their neighborhood schools. Lakewood is a racially diverse
community. All children within the Lakewood Unified School
District are welcome to attend school in the new district,
regardless of race, creed, or religion. The proposed school
district boundaries are the Lakewood City Limits, plus the
Lakewood Village area which has been included at the request of
several residents in that area (North of Carson Street, West of
Bellflower Blvd. and East of Lakewood Blvd and South of Del Amo.)
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Q: How long will the entire process take?
A: The process can take from 1.5 years to over
three years. It is not possible to determine exactly how long it
will take. The State Board of Education has no time limit on how
long it can take to "consider" the matter.
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Q: What happens to the employees at each school absorbed by the Lakewood Unified School District?
A: Classified employees (non-teaching) shall become employees of the Lakewood Unified School District. Their salaries and benefits must remain the same.
Certified employees (teachers) must be offered
a job by the Lakewood Unified School District. Salaries and
benefits are negotiable. They have the option of remaining with
their original district.
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Q: Will the Lakewood Unified School District continue to have magnet programs?
Although the issue of school programs is one which has to be decided by the school board, we are confident that the Lakewood Unified School District will have sufficient resources to provide magnet programs which are similar to those currently offered. Additionally, we firmly believe that the creation of the district will result in a higher quality of "base" education which is provided to all students and not just those in special programs.
Programs for children with special needs will,
of course, continue since they are required by state and federal
law.
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Q: How will the Lakewood Unified School District be funded?
A: The Lakewood Unified School District will be
funded the same way the current school districts are funded, with
money from the State. Property taxes are collected by the State
of California and are then reallocated to each school district in
the state based upon the average daily attendance. The formation
of the Lakewood Unified School District will simply result in a
reallocation of the funds currently being paid to the existing
school districts for those pupils attending residing in the
proposed Lakewood Unified School District to the new district.
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Q: Will taxes have to be raised to pay for the creation of the Lakewood Unified School District?
A: The Lakewood Unified School District will be funded by taxes we already pay which are going to the long Beach Unified, Bellflower Unified, Paramount Unified, and ABC Unified school districts. Creating our own district will merely divert the funds from them to our own district. We see no need for tax increases. Return to Top of Page
| STEP | PROCEDURE |
| 1 | Draw up a map showing the proposed school district boundaries. |
| 2 | Submit map and petition for approval by County. |
| 3 | Preparation of Petitions by County Committee on Reorganization (20-30 days). |
| 4 | Circulate Petition and obtain signatures of 25% of electors in territory or petition by majority of School Board members in affected districts. |
| 5 | County Superintendent finds petition to be sufficient and signed as required. No=end of process. YES= go to STEP 6. |
| 6 | County Superintendent sends petition to County Committee. |
| 7 | Notification of Public Hearings and Public Description of Petition. |
| 8 | Public Hearings held. (Aug. 5th 1998, 9:00 a.m., Final Report Aug. 26,1998 9:00 a.m.) |
| 9 | Review criteria of Education code 35753. |
| 10 | County Committee makes its recommendation and sends petition to State Board. |
| 11 | Review criteria of Education code 35753 |
| 12 | Petition approved = go to STEP 13 or disapproved=STOP or appeal. |
| 13 | Election Called by the State. |
| 14 | New school district takes effect on July 1st the year following the election. |
The Criteria The
State Board of Education will use to evaluate the petition
Criterion #1 The new districts will be adequate
in terms of number of pupils enrolled. This is 1501 students for
a Unified School District. Lakewood Unified School District is
expected to have approximately 12,000 students.
Criterion #2 The districts are each organized
on the basis of a substantial community identity. This is the
very foundation of our desire to form a school district. The City
of Lakewood should be served by the Lakewood Unified School
District, not four separate school districts (Long Beach,
Bellflower, Paramount and ABC Unified School Districts) as we are
now.
Criterion #3 The proposal will result in an
equitable division of property and facilities of the original
district or districts. (a) All property, funds, and obligations,
except real property and bonded indebtedness. (by) Real Property:
The real property and personal property and fixtures normally
situated there shall be the property of the district in which the
real property is located.
Criterion #4 The reorganization of the
districts will not promote racial or ethnic discrimination or
segregation. (The Lakewood Unified School District boundaries
will be drawn along city lines and encompass a racially and
ethnically diverse community.). Some of the criteria to be
considered here are: The number and percentage of pupils in each
racial and ethnic group in the affected districts as proposed by
the reorganization. The number and percentage of pupils in each
racial and ethnic group of the schools of the districts affected.
The number and percentage of pupils in each racial and ethnic
group in the districts affected with those of other schools in
the adjacent areas of the districts affected. The effect of
factors such as distance between schools and attendance centers,
terrain, and geographic features that may involve safety hazards
to pupils, capacity of schools, and related conditions or
circumstances that may have an effect on the feasibility of
integration of the affected schools. (this is a sample of some of
the considerations, and is not all inclusive).
Criterion #5 The proposed reorganization will not result in any substantial increase in cost to the state.
Criterion #6 The proposed reorganization will not significantly
disrupt the educational programs in the proposed district and
districts affected by the proposed reorganization and will
continue or promote sound education performance in those
districts.
Criterion #7 The proposed reorganization will
not result in a significant increase in school housing costs. The
County Committee should evaluate the affected districts' school
housing needs and the long-range facilities plans of meeting the
current and projected facilities requirements including: local
bonding capacity; developer fee income; surplus property asset
management; eligibility for state School Building Aid; deferred
maintenance, modernization, and reconstruction needs; the portion
of costs for additional housing to be assumed by state and local
programs.
Criterion #8 The proposed reorganization is not
primarily designed to result in a significant increase in
property value causing financial advantage to property owners
because territory was transferred from one school district to an
adjoining district.
Criterion #9 The proposed reorganization will
not negatively affect the fiscal management or fiscal status of
the proposed district or any existing district affected by the
proposed reorganization.
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Q: Is there any way I can help?
A: Absolutely! We have organized throughout the area and need all
of the help we can get. There will be no shortage of task to be
performed as we progress. Please contact us to join the list of
Lakewood Unified School District Supporters at (562) 496-3559
Return to Lakewood Unified
School District Organizing Committee Home Page
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