Special meeting to vote on environmental grant

An environmental grant worth more than $200, 000 could be jeopardized if the Culver City Unified School District Board of Education does not act on it before Aug. 20.

Superintendent David LaRose said the CalRecycling Grant, worth approximately $230, 000, is one of the action items that a school board often sees during the summer school recess. Some are  often more administrative in nature, but the recycling grant is one of the more important funding sources the district will see related to environmental activities.

“As is common during the summer weeks when (school) districts typically do not meet, we have a variety of business items that need to be addressed and we are seeking a time to hold a special meeting prior to our regularly scheduled board meeting on Aug. 27th,” LaRose explained in an email. “One item that is time sensitive is a grant application that requires board approval.”

Board member Karlo Silbiger, who had been out of town until late last month, said he has heard that LaRose is trying to find a time when at least three members of the board can be available to meet. “That’s the number that we need to have a quorum,” Silbiger noted. “I believe that the superintendent is trying to have a meeting scheduled within the next two weeks.”

LaRose confirmed that his office is trying to alert all members of the school board and coordinate with them in order to have a special meeting to take a vote on the recycling grant.

“We are currently working to align summer work, personal and travel calendars to find a meeting time that works,” the superintendent said. “The grant would certainly be a positive – providing additional resources for our environmental awareness, education and engagement efforts.”

Laura Chardiet and board vice president Patricia Siever confirmed to the News their intentions of attending the special meeting, which will take place at the district office on Tuesday, Aug. 13 at 5 p.m.

“I plan to be there,” Siever said.

 Board president Katherine Paspalis will be out of town and unable to attended. The News was unable to reach board member Nancy Goldberg.

Much has been made of the unavailability of Silbiger, Goldberg and Siever for a possible special meeting to vote on a bond measure after the school board could not agree on a decision to move forward with a capital improvement initiative on July 1. Due largely to summer vacation plans and other activities after the close of the academic year, not all members were available to convene a special meeting before Friday, Aug. 9, which Chardiet, Paspalis and supporters of having the chance to vote on the measure in November had hoped to arrange.

“It’s really tough to find time for special meetings during the summer,” Silbiger noted.

The next opportunity for a bond measure to repair the district’s infrastructure will be next June.

Silbgier, who like Paspalis is seeking reelection in November, thinks more has been made of which date a bond proposal than necessary.

“It’s one of those funny issues that has been blown out of proportion,” he said. “There difference has always been whether we were going to rush it through or whether we were going to take the time to do it properly.”

Asked whether he thought the topic could be used by the various campaigns during the school board race, Silbiger replied, “I think both sides can get a lot of leverage out of this issue.”

The next regularly scheduled board meeting is Aug. 27.