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BEVERLY HILLS VOLUME: LI
NUMBER 14
$135 PER YEAR - $1.25 PER COPY
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www.bhcourier.com
SINCE 1965
April 1, 2016
Arline, Henry Gluck Make Major Donation Beverly Hills High School Principal Dave Jackson To UCLA Stroke Rescue Program Signs On For One More Year
THIS ISSUE
The first-ever Beverly Hills singalong last week was a smash hit. 5
Local realtor Michael Libow funds a car restoration for the Lost Angels project. 14
BHHS pole vaulter Amanda Block dominated last week at Cerritos College. 15 •Fashion •Birthdays •Letters to the Editor
8 18 30
George Christy, Page 6 Tokyo’s Matinee Idol, Yukiyoshi Ozawa, Is Welcomed During A Dinner By Friends At La Dolce Vita In Beverly Hills, Now Celebrating Its 50th Anniversary
CLASSIFIEDS • Announcements • Real Estate • Rentals • Sales • and More
24
(see ‘GLUCK GIFT’ page 10)
School Board Increases K-3 Class Sizes To Solve District Overstaffing Problem By Matt Lopez Beverly Hills Unified School District K-3 classes will see a slight bump in students per class after the Board of Education on Tuesday approved raising the maximum amount of students per class to 23. The potential for an increase from the previous cap of 20 had caused some unrest among BHUSD parents in recent months, many of whom had come to previous meetings to speak out against the change. The impetus for change was a need to solve overstaffing that was causing financial issues within the district. Currently, BHUSD has 53 K-3 teachers with an enrollment of 1,009 students. The district-wide average is 19.03 students per class. Chief Administrative Officer La
Tanya Kirk-Carter said the district approximates each teacher costs the district around $100,000, including salary and benefits. “Unfortunately, the majority of your money is spent in staffing, and it eats and grows,” Kirk-Carter said. “In the current year we look good, and 2016-17 might be okay, but we are killing ourselves in 1718, 18-19 and 19-20.” Kirk-Carter told The Courier there was no exact ballpark figure on exactly how overstaffed the district is, but raising the cap of students in K-3 classes to 23 will allow the district to make cuts with a belief that it won’t adversely affect the instruction students receive. “By every standard or comparison, 23 students in a class is a small class,” Board Vice (see ‘CLASS SIZE’ page 17)
New Bel-Air Association Makes Changes As Trial Date Looms By Matt Lopez Nearly 200 members of the Bel-Air community exercised their democratic rights in a special election on March 17, voting in a slate of nine new board members in an attempt to change the Bel-Air Association for the better. Now, nearly two weeks later, the only ones upset about the change seem to be the organization’s ousted leadership. Eleven days after the Bel-Air community voted to pass new, transparent bylaws and elect nine new board members made up of residents, the Bel-Air Association’s former president Ron Hudson – who, up until a couple of days ago, still retained access to the BAA website despite his removal –
posted a seemingly-desperate blog post Sunday night, trying to convince community members that the motions passed at the March 17 meeting were invalid. “DON’T BE FOOLED!” Hudson’s headline read in all capital letters, followed by a not-so-easyon-the-eyes blog post mixing oversized fonts, randomly bolded words and red-colored type. Among other things, Hudson claims the meeting was unauthorized and that the BAA members who called the special meeting “would not participate in a fair election,” seemingly ignoring the fact that the March 17 meeting was held within the BAA’s bylaws. Last week, L.A. Superior Court (see ‘BEL-AIR’ page 14)
By Laura Coleman At 65 years old, Beverly Hills High School Principal David Jackson, a veteran administrator and educator, is truly a legend. After serving as the interim principial for Malibu High School for the 2014/15 a c a d e m i c year–lured from seven years of retirement at the behest of that district’s superintendent–Jackson agreed to take the helm at BHHS and once again delay the joy of retirement. Eight months ago, when the Courier first profiled Jackson last August, he was emphatic about staying on the job for only one year. But as of this week, Jackson agreed to once again delay his return to retirement from education and sign on for one more year as the BHHS principal. Said Superintendent Steve Kessler: “I am elated that Principal Jackson has decided to stay on as Principal of BHHS. He has done an amazing job in his first year and I look forward to another successful year. Along with our Board of Education, the students and parents of BHHS have already expressed to me in large numbers how happy they are to see that Principal Jackson will be returning.” Jackson estimated that he now works in excess of 80 hours a week as principal–and he continues to “love” coming to work. His new one-year contract with the district,
Celebrity Photo Agency/Scott Downie
Henry & Arline Gluck
By Courier staff Arline and Henry Gluck are making it possible for UCLA Health to implement a groundbreaking mobile stroke program. Their gift will allow the health system to buy, equip, and staff the first of a fleet of UCLA Arline and Henry Gluck Stroke Rescue mobile stroke units to improve acute stroke care in West L.A. Their donations will also establish the UCLA Arline and Henry Gluck Stroke Rescue Program in the Department of Neurology at the UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine. Stroke is the leading cause of serious disability and the fifth leading cause of death in the U.S. When an accute stroke occurs, the window for
Dave Jackson
which the Board of Education approved Tuesday, is for $200,000. His 2014/15 contract is for $170,000. As interim principal at Malibu, he earned $140,000. On the cusp of his appointment to lead Beverly Hills High School for an additional year, Jackson sat down with the Courier for this exclusive interview that follows. The Courier: What have you discovered during this year as Beverly Hills High School principal? Dave Jackson: I think I’ve discovered that everyday is an adventure here. No two days are alike. We have wonderful kids. I’ve fallen in love with our kids. We have a very good teaching staff and a very supportive district office. And I think we just need to tweak some things and move in the future in a positive manner. One thing we’re doing now is we’re tweaking the master schedule. Once that’s done, it should give students the flexibility to explore all the options they want in high (see ‘DAVE JACKSON’ page 17)
S E E I N G T H E LIGHT — Maddie Hasson, Marc Abraham, Tom Hiddleston and Elizabeth Olsen during their premiere of Sony Pictures Classics’ I Saw The Light at The Egyptian Theater. For more photos, see George Christy’s column on page 6.