FCMAT: Inglewood shows milestone progress toward exiting receivership

FCMAT representatives told the Inglewood Unified School District Board on Aug. 5 that the district has reached its best performance since entering receivership, with no individual standards scoring below 4 and overall area averages improving notably.

"This is, number 1, it's been a historical journey," said Mike Fine of the Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team (FCMAT), who praised the district's staff, parents and board for steady progress. Shailene Hart, also with FCMAT, said facilities management rose to 7.26 and financial management’s average climbed from 5.35 to 6.37 in the latest review. Hart noted the work still to be done: integrating a preventive maintenance plan into the work‑order system, improving work‑order tracking, further energy management procedures, and strengthening internal audit capacity.

FCMAT described the receivership path: the district remains in phase 1 but could move to phase 2 roughly a year from now if standards are sustained for a year. Fine said FCMAT will return for a final follow‑up review in about a year to verify sustainability before recommending further transitions. Board members repeatedly praised the continuity of leadership and stressed the need to eliminate deficit spending before a complete exit from receivership.

The presentation emphasized FCMAT’s statutory role and training programs for chief business officials; Fine also noted his pending retirement and that the agency is staffed to support a transition. The board will receive FCMAT’s next review results in the February follow‑up and was advised to use the year ahead to institutionalize the improvements.