KTLA

L.A. school board allows lawsuits to recover meal-program costs and over governor’s plan to reopen schools

Meal bags are assembled for distribution to families at Garfield High in East Los Angeles. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

The Los Angeles Board of Education on Tuesday agreed to authorize litigation against Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to reopen schools and, separately, to file litigation to recover the costs of providing free meals to adults in the community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The board on Tuesday also passed a resolution that formally expressed the district’s dissatisfaction over the level of funding assistance from other government agencies.

The board vote, taken during a closed-session meeting, does not commit the Los Angeles Unified School District to legal action, but it provides the superintendent with a tool for leverage without having to return to the board a second time for permission to file suit, said a district spokesperson.

“Efforts to seek support from both county and state government agencies tasked with regional emergency response in Los Angeles have as yet gone unanswered,” said Shannon Haber. “We hope to avoid the need to seek legal action.”

Read the full story on LATimes.com.