INGLEWOOD – There is growing concern that a pending school closure in Morningside Park was engineered by district insiders seeking to maintain lucrative contracts at the taxpayers expense and benefit from a $10 million windfall for dong so. Documents released by Inglewood Unified School District through public records requests appear to corroborate those claims.
The charade began with the most recent school bond voters passed in November 2020 to once again “fix the schools”. But the folks behind the campaign to convince voters to say yes to add additional taxes to the annual property tax statement, are the same folks who engineered the closure of Warren Lane Elementary formerly known as Daniel Freeman Elementary, the city of Inglewood’s founder.
Related: Inglewood Unified school bond appears coordinated with City Hall and Parent School PTA
The campaign committee was opened by a member of the Parent PTA, who used the home address of Inglewood Councilman Alex Padilla’s Parks and Recreation commissioners home on the forms filed with the County.
The committee raked in close to $100,000 in days. Heavy investors include law firms, architects, and DLR Group who is currently rebuilding Compton High School courtesy of a $300 million school bond.
The campaign forms show the district’s attorney’s, Orbach Huff Suarez & Henderson LLP (OHSH) contributed $5,000 to the Inglewood Residents for Yes on Measure I, where the only contribution from an Inglewood resident was former board member D’artagnan Scorza, who was refunded his $500 before the committee closed.
The district provided response that OHSH hired Total Solutions who was tasked with running school closure consolidation meetings in accordance with AB 1840.
AB 1840 provides the district with $10 million to shut down schools.
Related: Inglewood, Oakland Unified to receive $10 million for closing schools under AB 1840

During a rally to save the school from closing, Assembly candidate Tina McKinnor addressed the crowd May 8 stating the district didn’t follow the rules on having the required number of people on the committee as required.
“I want them to follow the process,” said McKinnor, who was the leading vote getter in the April primary.
The school closure issue presented an opportunity for Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts to step in and try to save the day. For years he constantly tells the residents that the council doesn’t run the district, but behind the scenes some of the council members have attached themselves to passing school bonds by proxy?

Related: Don’t let them lie to you! Inglewood Unified and Mayor Butts are partners in these land deals
Now Mayor Butts wants to co-author letters with the district to ask Gavin Newsom to “forgive the debt” so the district can become solvent? What’s in it for him?
Related: Inglewood mayor, County Administrator ask for school district loan to be forgiven
The school closure then becomes the battle cry of the community right at election time? The mayor’s Assembly candidate Robert Pullen-Miles then starts writing letters asking for the district’s loan to be forgiven, just as we discovered an independent expenditure campaign on his behalf is being run on the 7th floor of One Manchester Blvd (Inglewood City Hall).
County Administrator Dr. Erika Torres has always held steadfast that the school closure decision came at the behest of the school consolidation committee. Well the charade is up.
The Chair of the committee, Wesley Newman, called in to the May 25, 2022, school board meeting and dropped a bombshell on viewers. The committee didn’t recommend closing Warren Lane, the firm hired by the district’s lawyers did. Total Solutions. This could appear to be at the district’s and city hall’s request since they financed the bond.
You know kinda like quid pro quo? We’ll give you this contract but be sure to overrule the residents, don’t follow the Brown Act, and make the recommendation to close the school that is predominantly Black.
Too bad we couldn’t see Torres’ face.
This sounds like a criminal conspiracy to defraud taxpayers. Are y’all tired yet?
6 Comments
It’s time to get rid of the good-for-nothing politicians who don’t have the residents’ best interest in mind. I just tried searching, but can’t find a list of candidates for November’s open seats. I fear that the pool of candidates is so big (at least for mayor), the incumbents end up getting the majority of votes. We need to make a change!
It’s on the City’s website under the city clerk’s office then click elections then click on qualified candidates list.
The solution to a “do nothing government” is to get rid of that good for nothing Dotson. He is useless, incoherent and completely out of touch with the residents of District 1. He never attended one meeting about Warren Lane school closing held by D1 residents. In another case, we tried to call his lazyness to task about an issue we had and currently have on our block, ABSOLUTELY NO RESPONSE. At the last city government weekly meeting, he talked about the macaroni & cheese he ate at a block club event. Embarrassing to say the least. Can’t wait to vote in a new councilperson who has an ear to the issues Inglewood’s senior citizens, young families with children and working adults are facing daily. Surprisingly, Dotson, the oldest person on the council, does not care what happens to the seniors in his district. Instead, he hosted a “party in the park ” (no doubt with Mac & cheese) instead of focusing on the needs of his district, like the major school closing. DISTRICT 1 NEEDS HELP IMMEDIATELY!!! Please post those running for D1 in November, WE ARE READY FOR A CHANGE NOW!!
It would be far to kind to say the “smell test reflected rancid beyond measure” .
There is nothing, excuse me that should be, NOTHING ! ! that smells good about any of the transactions of either the Inglewood Unified Administration aka the LACOE ( Los Angeles County Board is Education) appointment as administrators, or the wow now they pretend to care only so they can bleed some more money or votes from the naive CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS, State SENATOR or ASSEMBLY MEMBERS.
The concept of bleeding property owners for funding for pathetic excuses of building improvements has been a joke from day one BUILDINGS DON’T TEACH any more than living in close proximity to a religious building makes you worthy of sainthood!!
Let’s do some onion skin peeling there is a small group of “financiers” who with their minions put “wanna be importants” on our Ballots fund their campaigns sending glossy mailers to your mailbox in order for you to vote for them and then once elected those financiers are handsomely rewarded with tax dollars.
Wouldn’t it be easier if the list of candidates with Dave Gould as treasurer came with check boxes near the names one indicted and the other waiting for FBI investigation?
And what’s. That there is a David Gould type campaign office confidently located on the seventh floor of a PUBLIC OWNED BUILDING AKA INGLEWOOD CITY HAALL.
For those late to the fleecing ….Largely Black and Brown communities are the easiest to fleece.
First step find a candidate with limited integrity and no morals who “looks like us” but whose greatest strength is willingness to give back – oh wait that sounds good but wait a minute it is not give sweat and thoughtfulness to the community but greenback payback contracts to those that paid for the mailers and the parties. !!!!!
Yep that’s right sell a a good line of we want to make it better and we fall for it every time don’t we?
And don’t we fall even harder when they tell we will get to give input HA that is a joke listen to the tape above !!! THE CHAIR OF OUR COMMITTEE got 60 whole count them quick 60 seconds to speak before he was told your (our spokesman’s) time was us.
The decision was made long ago to benefit those not part of our community….why because they believe we are just a bunch fools who over and over vote to give our hard earned money to those who are in our midst to lead us off the cliff..
Isn’ It time we STAND UP AND TOGETHER SAY NO MORE WE HAVE BEEN FOOLED FOR THE LAST TIME WE WILL NOT VOTE FOR THE SELECTED!!!! And we will take our story to the air waves, the digital world, and yes even to China (where some city council campaign donations come from), because we are done being taken advantage of !!, DONE BEING TOLD OUR TIME IS UP , and DONE BEING TOLD IF WE SPEAK UP WE WILL FACE CONSEQUENCES!
Forget the Senator and Assembly member and Congresswomen who got us here and are part of the problem or remained silent and did nothing but watch. It is time to fight back with what matters OUR $$$$$, OUR VOTES, and OUR VOICES UNITED that while we may disagree no elected can ever threaten to silence us at a microphone, a call- in meeting, a zoom meeting, or radio program or a television broadcast IT IS TIME WE TAKE BACK OUR COMMUNITY
It is time for the Attorneys who have been scamming us to go home and stay away, it is time for our genuinely active neighbors who have been helping all their lives in our community (not those who tell us they have been ) to be given the opportunity to offer suggestions for real solutions, be listened to and be put on commissions where they are more than the rubber stamps craving invites to a photo ops.
Stan Kroenke and his band of friends may own a team and have elected devoted to him but he and his developers should not dictate our future!
I AM A EMPLOYEE AT INGLEWOOD THIS IS ALL BULLSHIT, THEY ONLY CARE ABOUT THEMSELVES, READ THE OPINION SECTION, NOTHING NEW, ALL RUNNING, SHE IS THE WORSE SUPERINTENDENT WE HAVE, GET GER OUT AND THE TEAM FROM THE COUNTY!!
Actually, this is the 2nd Warren Lane Elementary school that the city of Inglewood has closed. The original Warren Lane Elementary school was located near the corner 8th Ave and Arbor Vitae. For some reason, Inglewood Unified School District (IUSD) sold the original Warren Lane Elementary School to Green Dot Schools; and Green Dot Schools turned the original Warren Lane into an Animo Charter middle school or high school. What did IUSD did with the money it received from selling the original Warren Lane Elementary School to Green Dot Schools?
At that point, IUSD renamed another of its schools Warren Lane Elementary School; it was formerly named Daniel Freeman Elementary school. So, this is the 2nd Warren Lane Elementary School, and the 2nd elementary school to be closed in the Morningside Park section of Inglewood – zip code 90305. IUSD could have used the money that they got from selling the 1st Warren Lane Elementary School to make needed repairs on the 2nd Warren Lane Elementary School.
The news of Morningside Park no longer having any elementary schools for its children to attend is disheartening and disappointing. As a child, my sisters and I attended the original Warren Lane Elementary School. My parents owned their home in Morningside Park for almost 50 years; and, I attended all of my K-12 school years at Inglewood public schools.
Now Morningside Park (90305 zip code) has no elementary school for its children to attend, which is ironic since Morningside Park homeowners probably pay some of the highest property taxes in the city because many of it homes are approaching (or have eclipsed) $1 million.
The IUSD administrators have now created a School Desert in an otherwise desirable neighborhood that is stable, long established over multiple generations, and well kept.
Parents will have no other choice but to send their elementary school-aged children to Kelso Elementary School, Woodworth Elementary School, private schools, parochial schools, charter schools, or other public schools in neighboring cities.
Way to go IUSD…