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State Superintendent Weighs In On Inglewood School District's $38K Junket

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson weighed in Friday on a report that the Inglewood Unified School District spent thousands on a weekend junket in San Diego for administrators to discuss changes in the curriculum.

"It wasn't necessary to do it in La Jolla. That's the point. The retreat could have been done on campus somewhere," Torlakson said.

KCAL9's Dave Lopez reported that the cash-strapped district, which was taken over by the state in 2012 and given a $55 million loan, sent principals and administrators to the Estancia La Jolla Hotel and Spa at a cost of more than $38,000.

Don Brann, the state trustee who runs the district on behalf of the state, said he didn't know about the junket. By the time he found out, it was too late to cancel.

Torlakson said he has complete trust and faith in Brann, who he said is doing the best job possible.

"It won't happen again. I believe Don has put the internal controls on. He has to sign off on everything. And he's got a clear message from my office that this is not appropriate," he said. "I trust his judgment moving forward in many, many key decisions in the district. The district has been turning around in the right direction under his leadership."

Meantime, Inglewood High School students continued to protest Friday about the way the district spent its money.

Five students also met behind closed doors with various department heads at district headquarters to air out their differences.

Earlier this week, police thwarted a planned student walk-out at the school.

RELATED STORIES:

Inglewood High Students' Planned Walk-Out Over District Spending Thwarted By Police

Struggling Inglewood School District Spends Thousands To Send Educators To Swanky Resort

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