Task Force II Plans ‘Will Destroy’ Arcadia Schools

My wife is nearly a lifelong resident of the city of Arcadia and is a product of the Arcadia school system. Based on her faith in that system, we decided to establish our family here in Arcadia.

It was therefore quite a shock to review the Task Force II plans, which we believe will destroy that educational system.

Along with 100 other people or more, we attended a presentation of Task Force II that was given at Hugo Reid Elementary School. Our impression is that the plan is an attempt to kill a gnat with a howitzer.

Most obnoxious to residents of our district is the plan to have the problem students, those who cannot or will not function in a normal social environment, placed in a continuation high school in a residential district. This occurs in no other school district in the area.

Placing such children in a residential area runs contrary to the General Plan of the city of Arcadia, which is to allow for the maximum enjoyment of the community of homes that we have established.

These students, some with criminal records, and some who we must presume are undergoing psychological counseling, will be coming and going at staggered hours from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. through the residential neighborhood. As was made clear at the meeting, they are much better off if placed in a location away from residential districts, such as at the current high school location.

No one in the city of Arcadia will benefit from this proposal. It will create a destructive downward spiral in the quality of the school system, the quality of the neighborhoods, and the real estate values in this city.

It appears to this observer that the only ones who will profit in this enterprise are the developers who will obtain the school district sites at current value and sell them for millions of dollars more.

THOMAS RITTENBURG

Arcadia