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Schools

BHUSD Moves Money to Measure E Fund and Basic Aid Reserve

The school board is using money it received from a legal settlement to carry out the transfers.

The Board of Education voted unanimously last week to use settlement money to $2.5 million to the Measure E bond fund and add another $2.5 million to the district’s .

Energy company Johnson Controls paid a total of $6.6 million to the Beverly Hills Unified School District’s general fund in November to regarding $7 million worth of goods and services the district purchased from the company at the recommendation of former facilities director Karen Christiansen. Johnson Controls had secretly hired Christiansen to be a consultant while she was working for the district.  was found guilty in November of four felony conflict of interest counts and was  this month to four years and four months in prison for infractions that occurred while she was a BHUSD employee.

The district has spent  in Measure E funds on legal fees related to the months-long Christiansen trial. The $334 million  was passed by voters in 2008 to help renovate all five BHUSD schools.

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The basic aid reserve now holds $3.25 million, Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Alex Cherniss told the board. The fund is in place to support the district in case property taxes fluctuate and bring in less revenue than anticipated. Money in the basic aid reserve cannot be spent without approval from the board majority.

The Johnson Controls settlement also includes a $1.6 million credit for goods and services from the company to be delivered at a later date. If the district doesn’t take advantage of the credit, it will receive $1 million in cash.

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“We will get approximately $1 million in additional funds in the next 10 months unless the board chooses to buy services [from Johnson Controls],” Cherniss said. “We will be coming back with a recommendation for another $1 million to appropriate.” 

Cherniss did not indicate how the additional funds might be spent.

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