12 Sites Taken Off List of L.A. School Projects

In the wake of intense controversy over its efforts to build new classrooms, the Los Angeles Unified School District has moved to withdraw 12 Los Angeles neighborhoods from consideration as sites for new or expanded schools.

The decision was made just before a Monday vote by the Los Angeles Board of Education that would have paved the way for final approval of five of the sites--in the Beverly-Normandie area west of downtown, in South-Central and Southeast Los Angeles and in Hollywood.

“We are hoping to diminish by a significant amount the dislocation (which would have been caused),” said board member Jackie Goldberg. She added, however, that although alternative sites will be sought, “homes will still be lost.”

“We’re obviously relieved,” said Deborah Scholl Wilson, a 28-year-old nurse who lives in a neighborhood of 124 East Hollywood homes and three apartment buildings that had been slated for demolition for a new school called “Hollywood No. 2.”

“It’s like recovering from a nightmare,” she said.

Since January, the school district has accelerated efforts to acquire land for 18 new schools and 24 school expansions to meet a projected increase of 76,578 students over the next five years.

Sites Involve 6,300 People

The 42 sites initially proposed involve 2,100 homes, apartment units or mobile homes housing an estimated 6,300 people.

“Thirty projects remain moving forward,” said Doug Brown, district deputy business manager, representing “in excess of $250 million in new construction.”

Eleven of the 12 neighborhoods withdrawn “will no longer be considered by the district,” School Supt. Harry Handler said at Monday’s school board meeting, although alternative sites will still be sought in the same general areas. The 12th, a proposed high school in the Southeast area, is being delayed pending a full environmental impact report.

The board’s decision to reconsider the 12 followed a recent request from State Senate Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles) that the district take more time to “look at alternatives” and perform environmental impact reports.

Roberti, reached Monday, said the district’s decision to remove those neighborhoods from consideration “indicates a willingness on the part of the Board of Education to come to grips with the concerns of the people who live in the community.”

Roberti added, however, that he wants to “reserve judgment” on the district’s decision until he has a chance to visit other proposed sites, not yet cancelled, “to make sure there are not some hardship cases that haven’t been adjusted yet.”

Over the last several weeks, homeowners and tenants have waged an extensive protest campaign, capped last weekend by three candlelight vigils at proposed school sites.

Two residential groups took legal action and last week received Superior Court continuances until the end of May to allow further time for community response.

One of the groups, representing a residential area of about 90 homes and apartments just west of downtown Los Angeles, designated as “Belmont No. 1” by the district, was among those granted a reprieve Monday.

The other, which includes six homes near the Wilshire Corridor owned by the Missionary Brothers of Charity, an order started by Mother Teresa, will be “readjusted” in a compromise to either move the charity, which provides shelter and services to the poor and homeless, or “separate the property out of that (site),” Brown said.

Roberti had also asked the State Allocation Board, which grants funds for school construction and expansions, to reserve up to $200 million of available state funds for the district so that the local agency can apply later in the year and not lose out in competition for construction funds with other school districts around the state.

Bruce Hancock, south area supervisor for the allocation board, said Monday, however, “We have not set aside any money for Los Angeles.

“The program runs on a first-come, first-served basis as far as availability of funds,” Hancock said. Although the district had set a deadline of May 1 and accelerated its efforts to designate sites, obtain preliminary design drawings and follow other steps in the application process, Hancock said, there is no equivalent deadline on the state’s part.

Legislation by Assemblyman Mike Roos (D-Los Angeles), to allow the construction of multistory schools that would require less land, and by Sen. Alan Robbins (D-Van Nuys), requesting a six-month moratorium on the district’s land acquisitions, are pending before the Legislature.

The school board decided Monday that construction on six of the remaining 30 proposed sites involves no significant environmental impact, paving the way for their final designation as future school sites.