The governing board of the William S. Hart Union High School District is scheduled on Wednesday for the second time to select a search firm tasked with finding external candidates to fill the district’s impending open superintendent position.
The board is set to hear from three search firms — Leadership Associates; Hazard, Yong, Attea & Associates; and McPherson & Jacobson — during a special meeting at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday before voting during a regular meeting scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Internal candidates who wish to apply for the position have the option to do so.
The firms had previously been set to present at a special meeting earlier this month, but a quorum of board members was not present and therefore business could not be conducted.
An ad hoc committee that would be made up of two governing board members to communicate with the selected firm throughout the search process is also up for consideration.
Mike Kuhlman announced earlier this year that he will be leaving his post as superintendent of the district effective June 30.
Wednesday’s regular meeting will also see the board discuss future upgrades to the district’s transportation yard to meet zero-emission guidelines and a project to replace the roofs at a couple of high schools. There is also scheduled to be a vote on a resolution finalizing the number of classified employees who are set to be laid off at the end of the school year.
Transportation upgrades
In October, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a target of 2035 for the state to have all school districts have every newly purchased bus be emission-free. Newsom had previously in 2020 signed into law a target of 2045 for all medium and heavy-duty vehicles, such as trucks and buses, to be emission-free.
The Hart district governing board is set to take the first step in meeting that target on Wednesday with a resolution that would signal an intent to hold a public hearing at a future meeting on granting an easement to Southern California Edison for the district’s transportation yard.
Should SoCal Edison at some point be granted that easement, the electrical company would have the “right of way on the property to construct, use, maintain, operate, alter, add to, repair, replace, reconstruct, inspect and remove electrical supply systems solely for the purpose of providing electrical power to vehicle charging stations,” according to the agenda item.
New roofs
The Hart district could be looking at spending more than $5 million on new roofs at both West Ranch and Golden Valley high schools. Both campuses officially opened their doors in 2004.
Three companies bid to take control of the project, with Eberhard, a Van Nuys-based manufacturing company, coming in with the lowest bid at $5.23 million. There are two addendums that could bring the total cost to north of $5.47 million.
The project would be funded through fund 40.3, known as the Special Reserve Fund for Capital Outlay Projects.
Layoffs
After the board approved layoff notices in February, the district began sending those out in March to employees who either will see their hours reduced or their employment terminated.
In total, 36 classified employees are set to be affected, with the board expected to vote on Wednesday on a resolution for those employees who will not be retained for the next school year. These employees either did not request a hearing with the district or withdrew a request for a hearing, according to the resolution.
These layoffs were part of the district’s fiscal stabilization plan that was approved in January. Directed by the Los Angeles County Office of Education to create that plan due to projected declines in enrollment and drops in average daily attendance in recent years, district officials said at a previous meeting that the plan has helped to bring finances back in check.
Even with a newly approved contract for teachers that called for 2% salary increases retroactive to the beginning of the school year and 2% one-time payments, the latest multi-year projections show the district having $30 million unassigned in its unrestricted general fund following this school year. That number is projected to drop to $22.7 million after the 2024-25 school year and then rise slightly to $23 million after the next year.
The district is required by law to have minimum reserves of 3% of projected expenditures. The latest projections show the district having more than a 12% reserve after this school year followed by 10% after each of the next two years.
