Beverly Hills Unified School District

A former employee of the Beverly Hills Unified School District has filed a lawsuit alleging racial discrimination and harassment by the district and sexual harassment by a school board member. The suit was filed May 2 in Los Angeles Superior Court, by Janeese M. Bland, a former secretarial assistant in the personnel department. She seeks $375,000 in lost pay and damages and unspecified punitive damages. The district has denied the allegations.

Beverly Hills teachers fashioned placards and huddled over picketing strategies Sunday in preparation for the first-ever strike in the district, set to begin today. After negotiations collapsed last week and no movement was made over the weekend, the teachers were planning to march at Beverly Hills High School and the district's four other schools starting at 6 a.m. Bill Gordon, chief negotiator for the Beverly Hills Education Assn.

Erin Brockovich and attorney Ed Masry on Monday filed 23 claims against the Beverly Hills school system and city government, alleging that toxic fumes from an oil-drilling rig on the local high school campus have caused cancers in former students. A handful of TV cameras were on hand in Beverly Hills to catch the latest appearance by Brockovich, who inspired an eponymous movie about a water pollution case that won the residents of Hinkley, Calif.

Taylor Short said the last few weeks have been like walking through a fog, unable to see what's ahead. The Beverly Vista Elementary eighth-grader has no idea where she'll enroll next year. She wonders whether she'll stay in touch with her best friends and feels let down by adults. David Yona, a top athlete at El Rodeo Elementary, said he had been looking forward to the summer, when sports teams condition and train. Sadness sets in when he thinks about the fun he will probably miss before he starts his freshman year in the fall.

Emulating a controversial practice at many colleges, two high-achieving public school districts in California are giving preference to the children of alumni. The Beverly Hills Unified School District and the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District have adopted legacy admissions policies for children of former students who live outside their enrollment boundaries. The policies appear to be the first in the nation at public schools, education experts said.

With no agreement in hand after a mediation session this week, Beverly Hills teachers and the school district both remained hopeful of a settlement but started preparing for the possibility of the district's first teacher strike. The school board on Tuesday unanimously approved emergency procedures in case of a strike, which teachers threaten as early as Oct. 16 unless the Beverly Hills Unified School District provides acceptable increases in salary and benefits.

The superintendent of the Beverly Hills Unified School District retires at the end of this school year, leaving a district notable not only for its academic fame and strong parental involvement, but also for its financial troubles and many disillusioned teachers. Robert L. French, who saw the district through its first strike last fall, will step down June 30 for personal reasons, he announced late last week.

The Beverly Hills Unified School District surprised the parents of about 100 students who live outside the district this week when it declared that it will wait until fall to renew permits allowing the students to attend Beverly Hills schools. Parents usually know by June whether their applications for permits have been accepted.

The Beverly Hills City Council has proposed a change in its charter that would require the city to pay all or part of the school district's $5.7 million budget deficit. The council discussed the matter for the first time in public at a study session Tuesday. Further discussions are planned today at a joint meeting between the council and the Beverly Hills Unified School District board. "This would fundamentally change the government of the city of Beverly Hills," Councilwoman Donna Ellman said.

Spurred by mounting parental pressure, striking teachers and the Beverly Hills Unified School District reached a tentative settlement Tuesday afternoon, with teachers scheduled to vote on the agreement early today.