Fiscal Advisor Ordered for Inglewood Schools

Concerned that Inglewood Unified School District board members have not followed county orders to restrict spending, the Los Angeles County Office of Education on Tuesday appointed a fiscal advisor to oversee all the troubled district’s expenditures.

The county intervention, the second in less than four years, came late Tuesday after officials learned that board President Gloria Gray had scheduled a special meeting today to consider a contract for a new superintendent. The district had been ordered last month not to enter into any contracts exceeding $50,000 annually.

“This district board continues to consider and put on the agenda additional contract liabilities which would endanger the fiscal well-being of the school district,” wrote County Supt. Donald Ingwerson in a letter to Gray Tuesday. “I have no choice but to take the following action: negative certification and appointment of fiscal advisor.”

Inglewood is the only district in the county under the supervision of a county fiscal advisor because of concerns about its budget.

In the last month, Ingwerson said the district had not complied with the county’s parameters for day-to-day business. He cited four expenditures on the May 28 agenda that were more than $50,000 each. Ingwerson said that considering a contract for a new superintendent was “pushing the limits” too far.

Gray said the county’s intervention was unnecessary and questioned the county’s claims that the board has not followed the county’s orders.

“I don’t understand the reason the county is doing this,” Gray said. “We were certainly in compliance with what the county had advised us to do, and there was no evidence that we were going to take any action that was against what we were advised.”

Ingwerson appointed Ken Shelton, assistant superintendent of business services for the county, as the fiscal advisor until an audit has been completed. Shelton is overseeing an audit of the district books, which began last month, to evaluate the district’s accounting practices. The county began questioning Inglewood’s budget in January when a regularly scheduled interim review reflected several discrepancies.

Shelton will have the power to reverse spending decisions made by the board and to veto future decisions. Shelton said it is unknown when the budget review will be completed, but said he could be removed as fiscal advisor once the financial analysis is done.

“We are more concerned about large expenditures than the day-to-day operations of the district at this point,” Shelton said. “Hiring a superintendent has big fiscal implications and we need to be sure this district is solvent first.”

Inglewood is no stranger to fiscal woes. The district was two steps shy of a state takeover in 1993 when the county appointed Richard Bertain as the district’s fiscal advisor. After his 1 1/2-year stay in the district, Bertain was hired as the district’s deputy superintendent of business services. He has been serving as acting superintendent since April 5 when three members of the board ousted Supt. McKinley Nash.

Plans to hold a special meeting today sparked controversy Tuesday, dividing the fractious board even further. Nash supporters Thomasina Reed and Loystene Irvin were scheduled to appear in court this morning seeking a temporary restraining order to enjoin the board from taking action to hire a new superintendent.

“I am very happy that the county intervened. I do however hope that this is a temporary appointment,” Reed said. “I’m hoping that once we have a new board in place, that the county will see that the district can operate in a financially responsible manner.”