Group Urges Student Boycott of Compton School

Compton’s struggling school district came in for more criticism Monday when the local chapter of the NAACP called for parents to keep their children out of classes at McNair Elementary School because the campus’ buildings allegedly are too dangerous.

At a news conference near the school, Walter Goodin, the president of the Compton chapter of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People, called on the district to close the school because peeling lead paint discovered there two weeks ago posed a health hazard to students.

“If we were in any other area [of the city], this wouldn’t be tolerated,” Goodin said.

School officials, however, said the problem has been resolved by scraping and sealing the paint, which can cause lead poisoning, in four buildings with particularly high lead levels.

“The problem has been resolved, and the facility is safe for the children,” said Sylvester Nicholson, principal of McNair Elementary, built in 1952.

Another problem, Goodin said, was the discovery of rodent feces two weeks ago in a closet used to store canned goods and containerized food used in school lunches.

That problem was resolved too, officials said. The food was removed, the rodent feces were cleared, and all entries for rodents were blocked before the canned goods were returned, said school district spokeswoman Vivien Hao.

The Compton Unified School District has wrestled with a series of problems in recent years. It is the only school district in California to be taken over by the state because of both financial bankruptcy and academic deficiencies, meaning that the state--not the local school district--controls the purse strings and the curriculum.

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The district was taken over in mid-1993 as a condition of receiving $20 million in emergency state loans. But many of its 36 schools have been in decay for decades.

In the past, leaky roofs have driven students and teachers out of classrooms at McNair, which has about 700 students. At other schools, broken windows have been left unrepaired for months. Some critics say Compton High School looks more like a prison than a center of learning.

McNair’s lead paint problem came to light when the city asked the Compton Fire Department to inspect the school for safety hazards.

Battalion Chief James Murphy said he had samples of peeling paint analyzed. Results showed there were some toxic levels of lead paint, particularly in four classrooms used by students in kindergarten through third grade, age groups that are highly susceptible to lead poisoning.

The district was notified last week about the problem, which was resolved within 24 hours, officials said. Murphy and Fire Chief Milford Fonza returned to the school last week to inspect the premises and approved the classrooms for use.