Administrator of Insolvent Inglewood, Calif. School District Resigns

LOS ANGELES — Kent Taylor, who was appointed just two months ago to run the insolvent Inglewood Unified School District, resigned Friday after the California Department of Education learned of tentative agreements he made with the teachers union without proper authority.

Taylor, former superintendent of Southern Kern Unified School District, was named administrator of the school district on Oct. 3 by state superintendent Tom Torlakson.

Torlakson appointed Taylor to the position after the school district asked the state for an emergency $55 million loan, triggering a stake takeover.

“This change is in the best interests of taxpayers, students, and employees of the Inglewood Unified School District,” Torlakson said in a statement. “I’m confident that our work to address the district’s troubled finances will proceed without interruption.”

Taylor resigned after the state’s Department of Education learned of financial commitments he had made without the required CDE approval, according to a release from the state Department of Education. The agreement was also made prior to the completion of a financial review and plan to restore the district to fiscal health, according to state officials.

The tentative agreement with the Inglewood Teachers’ Association would have maintained current employee health benefits and limited the number of furlough days over the next two school years, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times. State school officials sent a letter to the association rescinding the tentative agreement, according to news reports.

La Tanya Kirk-Carter, who was named the district’s assistant superintendent of business services two months ago, will serve as interim administrator until the state names a permanent replacement, officials said.

Kirk-Carter worked as a business and facilities consultant at Beverly Hills Unified School District for four years prior to accepting the position in Inglewood.

Under the emergency legislation passed by legislators to rescue the district, Torklason, through his designated state administrator, assumes authority over the district from the elected school board, which now serves only in an advisory capacity.

State control continues until the district has adequate fiscal systems and controls in place, and until Torklason is assured that the district’s future compliance with the fiscal plan approved for the district is likely.

Inglewood USD is the ninth school district in California since 1990 to be taken over by the state after requiring an emergency loan.

Since then, local governance has been returned to five districts, according to the department.

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