State Official Approves Compton Schools Panel

COMPTON — The state administrator for Compton schools has approved the creation of a citizens oversight committee to set priorities over the repair and restoration of the district’s aging campuses.

Randolph E. Ward endorsed the proposal after the school district’s board earlier this week voted 2 to 1 for the measure, even though the monthly board meeting lacked a quorum. Board members have served only in an advisory role to the state administrator since the state took control of the district in 1993.

The goal is to have an “impartial and independent panel that will review the requests for projects that will be paid for by public funds,” said district spokesman Fausto Capobianco.

Ward in the past has touted the creation of a citizens committee as part of a campaign to win voter approval of a $107-million school bond measure to fix the school’s crumbling buildings.

Representatives to the committee will be appointed by the mayors of Compton, Carson and Paramount, the Compton Community College board of trustees and the American Civil Liberties Union, among others.