Neighbors Outraged by School Expansion
Sam Hall Kaplan’s article, “School Officials Deserve ‘F’ Grade” (March 15) was an excellent summary of what is happening in Los Angeles.
Recently, the Board of Education informed us that they are considering building an elementary school, Belmont No. 2, where our homes and businesses now stand. Our neighborhood of Madison Avenue and White House Place is in the Mid-Wilshire District.
We know that new schools are needed. We believe, however, that the board is creating problems that go against city planning, the Wilshire District plan and the board’s own procedures.
If this school is built, the remainder will be deteriorated industrial, commercial and tenement properties. The residential quality of the area would vanish.
The board’s “Initial Environmental Impact Report,” which finds there is “no impact,” represents an incomplete and inaccurate analysis that is a self-serving whitewash of the proposed school’s effect on the community, and is apparently intended as an expedient way to avoid dealing with serious public concerns.
The board members cannot be allowed to hide behind the argument that children need schools as an excuse to seize people’s homes and businesses, disregarding the overall importance of a well-planned community and city.
ROBYN D.H. MORNINGSTAR
MICHAEL B. HUGHES
Los Angeles
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