By Michael Beeli
Staff Writer
and Kayla Samimi
News Editor
As a result of the Dec. 11 emergency closure of Mira Costa and Pennekamp Elementary School due to an anonymous threat directed at Costa, Manhattan Beach Unified School District Board of Trustees approved a request for a $235,000 allowance from the California Department of Education at the Jan. 20 board meeting.
According to Assistant Superintendent Dr. Dawnalyn Murakawa-Leopard, the board will send the request to Los Angeles County Superintendent Dr. Arturo Delgado and, if approved, he will then send it to the California State Department of Education for final approval. The process will take approximately three to four months, and if the request is not approved, an extra day will have to be added to the school year calendar.
“I hope that the state will reimburse us for the day we missed school so that we do not have to make it up,” Costa Principal Dr. Ben Dale said.
MBUSD Executive Director of Educational Services Carolyn Seaton said that the reimbursement will go directly toward funding for textbooks and other supplies that the school needs as well as paying teachers and other MBUSD staff members.
“If we have a day where kids aren’t coming to classes, that can be a significant loss of revenue for the school district,” Seaton said.
Classes were also cancelled at Costa on Dec. 7 due to a bomb threat directed at the school from an unknown caller. Since students left first period early, Murakawa-Leopard said that because a majority of students were present from the beginning of the day, the school did not lose more revenue than any other day.
“Realistically, we’ve seen many districts in the same situation as us, so it’s hard to imagine the state wouldn’t approve [the request],” Murakawa-Leopard said. “I’m optimistic about it.”
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