LAUSD board member looks to modify transfer policy after outcry
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After an outcry from parents, a Los Angeles school board member said Monday he would push to partially overturn a new policy on transfer permits that could force thousands of students now attending South Bay schools to return to LAUSD campuses.
LAUSD board member Steve Zimmer, who represents Westchester, said through a representative that he would seek to let 10th- and 11th-grade permit students attend through graduation at their non-LAUSD campuses.
"Steve's concern is that students who are already in high school should be able to finish high school," said Zimmer's chief of staff, Sharon Delugach. "It's not really so much the emotional turmoil, but how it's going to affect them into college. It would be too disruptive."
Zimmer was traveling in Washington and could not be reached for comment.
His move comes after a Feb. 9 vote in which the board gave Superintendent Ramon Cortines authority to end inter-district transfer agreements in a bid to save money by keeping students in Los Angeles Unified. The item was discussed briefly and generated almost no attention.
Cortines later reported to board members in an internal memo that the move would raise
$51 million in enrollment-related state funding for the district, which is facing a $640 million budget gap. The superintendent estimated