The Inglewood Unified School District will not get the financial relief it was counting on from Assembly Bill 51 after it died in committee last month, but the bill’s author Tina McKinnor is still trying to find a way to keep hope alive.
AB 51 would have forgiven the remaining interest on the $29 million emergency loan the district borrowed in 2014. McKinnor told The LA Local that the district still owed about $16 million of its loan and the remaining interest amounted to about $1 million. She said she plans to ask for the remaining interest to be forgiven as a part of the state’s 2026-2027 budget.
“I’m asking the state to refinance the loan. Let us take that interest off,” McKinnor said. “Let us put it in the schools so we can continue to make it better.”
Inglewood County Administrator James Morris said in an emailed statement that the Inglewood Board of Education, the district’s administration and labor partners joined forces to support the bill because it would “ultimately benefit our students.”
He said despite the bill not passing, he continues to support McKinnor and her efforts to help Inglewood schools.
“Assemblymember McKinnor has been a strong advocate for the students and families of Inglewood,” Morris said. “She has been a champion of initiatives that provide funding for schools and students in our community.”
Inglewood schools have struggled for years with falling enrollment and chronic absenteeism, which can impact how much the district receives in state funding. As a result, the district has closed five schools since 2018, according to a 2025 ACLU report.
The district was placed under receivership — or state control — in 2012, leaving parents, staff and even the school board with no say in the decisions made for the district. The county administrator is the only person with decision-making authority, for now.
McKinnor said when she took office in 2022, it was imperative the school district reflect the major developments — new stadiums along with national and international sporting events — happening in Inglewood.
“We have everything going on around this school district and we need to ensure that the district looks like the city. Inglewood is booming,” McKinnor said.
The Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team ( FCMAT) is currently conducting its annual audit of the district. The results of the audit are expected to be released in July and will determine if Inglewood will qualify to exit receivership in 2027.
FCMAT did not support AB 51, and it was the only entity listed that did so, according to Cal Matters. The state agency said the bill is “unfair as it treats similarly situated districts differently” and that the cost to the state is about $2 million.
“The Legislature has already provided multiple opportunities to both Oakland USD and Inglewood USD to receive additional unrestricted state apportionments not available to any other district in the state. AB 51 compromises the standard of practice for insolvent local educational agencies,” the state agency said in an April 2025 statement.
Although the remaining loan and interest debt is a separate issue from the district’s receivership status, Morris told The LA Local in January that he supported AB 51 and even traveled to Sacramento last spring to prove it.
“The district is currently paying about $400,000 a year in interest on that loan,” Morris said last month. “That’s $400,000 that children who are in our schools today don’t have the opportunity to benefit from because the children today are paying for mistakes from the past.”
McKinnor said despite AB 51 not getting passed, she’s asking for parents, students and staff to hold on a little while longer.
“I am very serious about making sure that Inglewood Unified is one of our gems in LA County,” McKinnor said.