In September of 1988, the Mayor's office took a bold step outside traditional city business to create an innovative after school program that would operate as a true partnership including the City of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Unified School District and the private sector.
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The dual jurisdiction model housed a President & CEO with administrative staff in City Hall, and a Chief Operating Officer with program/operations staff housed at LAUSD. Each office is directly accountable to the Mayor and Associate Superintendent of LAUSD's Beyond The Bell branch respectively, and both entities absorb most overhead, equipment, communication, transportation and postage costs. A Board of Directors and Advisory Board were established to represent a broad cross-section of the community, and to leverage additional expertise and resources. Co-management not only allows LA's BEST to make use of opportunities directed to the City of Los Angeles and LAUSD, but also to be a reliable and regular influence on education policy.
"In Los Angeles, the connections with city government are more formal -- the chief executive is part of the Mayor's Office and the chief operating officer is employed by the School District -- yet its hybrid organizational structure and very strong chief executive gives LA's BEST more of the operating versatility of an independent agency." -- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The After School Project, August 2005.
