Knowledge is power for school committee

Information is power. So, it was a step in the right direction that Burbank Unified School District's Community Oversight Committee last week demanded more control and more information in its effort to oversee the district's $122.5-million modernization project.

After the Burbank Unified School District Board clarified the committee's responsibilities and empowered it to review board expenditures that are not solely funded by bond money Tuesday, the board and committee members seem to be at least getting closer to the same page. But that page must be one in which committee members have immediate access to how the district is spending the bond money, otherwise the little that is left -- about $28 million -- will be hidden under reams of district paperwork.

Empowering the committee is vital, because for a time, after 217 leaks in John Burroughs High School's new main building, the lack of water-proofing in a campus parking lot at Burbank High, tree roots damaging old drainage systems, the potential for campus flooding, faulty gym designs, faulty landscaping plans, and the alleged sins of a previous school facilities team, one has to wonder who was accountable for what when it came to modernization. Was it the board? The district? Was it Ali Kiafar, the former district director of maintenance and operations who seems to get most of the blame for botched construction of campus modernization projects?

As officials have said before, things were signed off on before problems came to light -- problems such as heavy rain that that exposed leaking and flooding issues. And that has been costly for the district.

But with only $28 million left to spend on renovations to Luther Burbank Middle School, McKinley Elementary School, Providencia Elementary School and Monterey High School, there is not much time left for questions over competency or money left to make up for the lack of it. It is time for accountability.

After seven years, it was about time that the committee -- charged with overseeing the district's administration of modernizing campuses -- demanded clarification of its responsibilities.

If that money is being spent unwisely, the public needs to hear about it immediately. Who better than an a citizen advisory board charged with making the district and its trustees accountable?

Many have faith in the new facilities director, Craig Jellison, and his team. We do, too. But without the accountability and timely reporting of information, which should be pressed by the board and the committee, that $28 million is itself subject to not being spent wisely.

School Board member Paul Krekorian said the approval Tuesday will improve the relationship between the board and the committee. We hope so. It's just unfortunate that improving the relationship comes seven years later.