Asset management committee to focus on Highland site after report updates; staff to verify $950,000 Yukon sale and review water‑rights questions

The Inglewood Unified School District Asset Management Committee on Dec. 16 reviewed revisions to its findings-and-recommendations report for three surplus properties — Highland, Kelso and Morningside — and agreed to focus next month on the Highland site while staff returns with follow-up details on prior dispositions and enrollment‑impact figures.

Legal counsel Serene Abraham of Orbach Huff & Henderson LLP walked the committee through edits to the report, including expanded exhibit headings and added meeting entries. Abraham told the group that fiscal consequences depend on transaction structure: lease revenues are the most flexible and may be used for general district purposes, while sale proceeds, if a property is sold, generally must be deposited to a facilities fund and used for capital outlay or non‑recurring maintenance as determined under the Education Code. "Lease revenue offers the most flexibility," Abraham summarized during the presentation.

The presentation also noted a negotiated, long‑term ground lease at the Morningside and Woodworth Monroe campuses intended to support development of an approximately 23‑acre market‑rate residential project. Abraham said the joint‑occupancy ground lease is intended to generate long‑term revenue for the district "potentially totaling hundreds of millions of dollars," and that the ground‑lease structure provides more flexibility about how those funds might be used than an outright sale.

Committee members asked several follow‑up questions about past dispositions. The group was told staff previously sold a small, odd‑shaped parcel off Yukon to the City of Englewood for a water well; the committee was given a sale date of Oct. 2, 2024 and told the purchase price was $950,000 and that the proceeds were deposited into the district's facilities fund. Committee members requested staff return at the January meeting with confirmation of whether the facility fund money has been spent and with documentation on whether water rights were conveyed in that sale. (The transcript indicated staff promised to "look it up and get back" on amount and water‑rights disclosures.)

During the public‑comment portion, Tiffany Moore, academic lead for LA Christian Academy, presented a three‑minute proposal to occupy the Highland campus with a model she described as combining K–12 instruction, adult education and community services. "We're not just building a school. We're building a community anchor," Moore said in her remarks. The proposal was placed on the committee packet as a "received and filed" item for transparency.

Committee members discussed funding sources and expressed recurring concern about enrollment declines and their fiscal effects if students shift to charter operators. Several members asked staff to prepare a cost‑per‑student estimate and an analysis of how student departures affect the district budget to inform any future recommendation that could change enrollment patterns.

The committee did not advance any formal disposition or authorization at the meeting. Members agreed to concentrate deliberations on the Highland property (listed in the packet at 430 Venezuel) at the next meeting; staff was directed to provide updated financial analyses, enrollment‑impact data and any outstanding documentation about prior property sales (including the Yukon parcel and water‑rights status) before those deliberations proceed.

A brief procedural motion to approve the minutes from the Nov. 19, 2025 meeting was carried by roll call earlier in the session; the meeting adjourned at 6:07 p.m. Proposed 2026 meeting dates were presented for consideration.