California IN BRIEF : RICHMOND : Schools Chief Ousted by Board

The Richmond school board has ousted Supt. Walter Marks amid concern that he was jeopardizing the district’s chances of getting a second emergency bailout loan from the state. The district could run out of money by next February, one state legislator said. The district, which faces an estimated $25-million shortfall for next year, received a $9-million loan from the state earlier this year and is forced to ask for an additional $25 million. “The consensus of opinion was that if we were going to have a good shot of seeing this loan, Marks would have to go,” said Assemblyman Robert J. Campbell (D-Richmond), who called the district “the worst example of a public agency not being run well.”