School Panel OKs Tree Planters' Plan

By DOUG SMITH

Oct. 15, 1997 12 AM PT

TIMES EDUCATION WRITER

An urban forestry group that has planted tens of thousands of trees won the blessing of the Los Angeles school bond oversight committee Tuesday to substitute greenery for up to 30% of the asphalt paving planned under the massive school repair and construction project.

The nonprofit TreePeople will work with principals of hundreds of campuses to create planting plans that will lower energy costs, reduce pollution and exposure to ultraviolet light and engage students and community members in improving their campuses, said the group’s president and founder, Andy Lipkis.

The proposal came with one catch, though: Because of steep cutbacks in its maintenance and operations budgets in the early 1990s, the Los Angeles Unified School District doesn’t have enough gardeners to keep up new green areas.

Lynn Roberts, director of maintenance and operations, said the district lost 61 gardeners in 1993, leaving only nine for its 419 elementary schools. To tend large athletic fields, every high school and most middle schools have their own gardeners. About 25 positions would have to be restored to care for the new plantings on elementary campuses, she said.

The TreePeople said any new expense for gardeners could be offset by lower air-conditioning costs that would come as the shade trees matured.

“We see this as one of the most important opportunities this city has faced in the last 50 years,” Lipkis told the committee created by the voters in April as part of Proposition BB to review spending of the $2.4-billion bond. “You have the most awesome opportunity here in terms of the health of our kids in the next generation.”

Representatives of TreePeople told the committee that the greening of the schools would cost no more than repaving, and possibly less, because of the large amount of volunteer work and private funding the group expects to enlist.

The district has budgeted $194 million for 731 Proposition BB paving projects.

TreePeople’s plan would put trees and lawn on about 20 million square feet of playground area, Lipkis said.

School officials said the estimated maintenance cost for all the new greenery would run about $2.5 million annually. And the expense cannot be covered with Proposition BB funds because the bond can only be used for repair and construction, not operating expenses.

“Emotionally, we’re all ready to embrace this,” said committee member Timothy Lynch, deputy Los Angeles city controller. But he and other committee members expressed reservations about the funding for increased maintenance.

Lipkis tried to ease their doubts with his prediction that the trees will pay for themselves by shading walls and air-conditioning units.

Based on U.S. government estimates of the cooling effect of shade trees, the district will save 10% to 12% on the additional electricity it will need to operate new air conditioners being installed in hundreds of schools, Lipkis said. Although it will take years for the trees to mature, it will also take some time before heavy maintenance becomes necessary.

In a unanimous vote, the committee urged the Board of Education to budget the funds to maintain the trees.

The board’s facilities committee is expected to consider the request Nov. 6.

Supt. Ruben Zacarias said Tuesday that the district might be able to obtain city Proposition K park funds to help with the gardening expense.

Even if funding doesn’t come through this year, Lipkis said, the TreePeople will go ahead with their plan to visit every school, form greening teams, start planting designs and begin work. Some schools have already decided to go ahead even if no money comes through, he said.

Ted Tanaka, a representative of the American Institute of Architects on the committee, said he believes that the committee’s vote would encourage principals and parents to move ahead.

“A lot of schools got discouraged about planting because there is no maintenance,” Tanaka said.

TreePeople has as its mission “to inspire the people of Los Angeles to take personal responsibility for the urban forest.” It has planted about 1.5 million trees since its inception in 1973.

Times education writer Amy Pyle contributed to this story.

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Greening Campuses

TreePeople, an urban forestry group, has volunteered to help the Los Angeles school district plant trees and lawns on playgrounds. Here are the group’s cost estimates. The district would have to spend an estimated $2.5 million annually for maintenance.

Surface: Asphalt

Cost/Sq.Ft.: $3

Surface: Lawns

Cost/Sq.Ft.: $3

Surface: Trees

Cost/Sq.Ft.: 90 cents-$1.50

Here is the number of gardeners schools now have, and what they would need under the proposed greening program.

Schools:

Level-Elementary: 419

Level-Secondary: 120

Gardeners

Level-Elementary: 9