Reopening of Weaver School Spurs Protests

The unexpected reopening of an elementary school brought angry protest Tuesday night from residents saying their streets suddenly were clogged.

About 75 protesters told trustees of the Los Alamitos Unified School District they were never notified that Weaver Elementary School in Rossmoor would be reopened as an elementary school. Weaver had closed as a public school in 1983 but has been used for a preschool.

“This is more than just an issue of not in my backyard,” said Jeff Singer, who, like most of the residents, lives on Argyle Drive. “It’s an issue of lack of advance notice, an issue of lack of participation from residents.”

Board members said public hearings on the issue were held in early 1995, but they apologized that the residents had not heard. The board also agreed to work on ways to resolve the traffic problems.

“We will do everything to make it absolutely safe for everyone,” said Board President Del Clark. “But we need to move forward.”

Weaver, which opened as a year-round school on Aug. 8, has 125 students in preschool through third grade, about half from outside the district.

The residents contended that the school did not benefit their community because it is attended by so many students from other cities.

But Clark said the district made a business decision to allow students to transfer in from other school districts to keep the district financially viable.

“You’re either growing or dying,” she said. “There’s no such thing as a stagnant business.”

Residents also were outraged by the board’s unwillingness to conduct a traffic study or form a committee to further review the traffic issue. Supt. Michael S. Miller said the district was not required by law to do a traffic study.