Roscoe Elementary Needs a Patron

If the Los Angeles Unified School District was an orphanage (and some would disrespectfully suggest that it is exactly that), Roscoe Elementary School in Sun Valley would be that needy and deserving kid standing in the corner who keeps getting passed over for someone else.

Indeed, if any school needed to be “adopted” by a firm, civic group, or other organization, as so many others around the district have been, it would be Roscoe. About now, its staff must be wondering whether someone is about to drape an albatross over the building.

This past summer, the school was robbed of its most precious equipment: its computers, television sets, facsimile machine, even its nurse’s office wheelchair. It has suffered 15 break-ins in just the past year, according to Principal Ruth Bunyan.

At one time, the LAUSD could afford to replace such losses. It cannot now. Worse yet, most the school’s meager finances have had to be used to purchase intrusion alarms, window grills, and steel-clad doors for the added security needed to protect what remains at the school.

Still, Principal Bunyan is forging ahead with learning plans that include carefully structured, one-on-one instruction for so-called “at risk” kids for 30 minutes each day for 12 to 20 weeks.

In the coming school year, many adopted campuses will benefit from tutoring, mentoring, counseling, friendship, field trips, and donations from the members or employees of various firms and organizations. Roscoe Elementary deserves similar help.