Torrance Unified School District (TUSD) is a school district in Los Angeles County, California, with its headquarters in Torrance.
The district board of education has a president, a vice president, a clerk, and two members. As of 2011, the District Superintendent is Dr. George Mannon. The TUSD suburban schools generally rank high academically, and West High School has won several County Academic Decathlons.
The district opened in 1947. In 1948 Torrance's high schools and elementary schools unified into one district. Previously, it had been administered by the Los Angeles School System. The city's oldest school is Torrance High School, founded in 1917. Forty new schools were built in a building boom following World War II, as the city grew from its pre-war 10,000 to more than 140,000. However declining enrollment later caused closing several schools.
In July 1985 talks between the City of Torrance and TUSD broke down over the purchase of the 3.4-acre (1.4 ha) Greenwood School site, a closed school site. The final offer from TUSD was $1.875 million ($4175239.79. The final offer from the city was $1.6 million ($3562871.29. Later in 1985, to avoid legal action, the city proposed that if the district gives the site to the city while negotiations over the sales price occurred, the city government would give the district $1.6 million when accounting for inflation) in a deposit and allow it to draw interest in that deposit. The city promised to pay the difference between the $1.6 million and the final purchase price in addition to the interest as long as the final purchase price did not exceed $1.875 million when accounting for inflation). TUSD had until November 1, 1985 to decide on whether to take the offer.
The district is in the South Bay region of southwestern Los Angeles County. The district's approximately 21 square miles (54 km2) of territory includes all of the City of Torrance.
Bordering areas include Gardena and Redondo Beach to the north and west, Carson to the east, and the Palos Verdes Peninsula to the south.