Neighbors Give LAUSD Feedback on School Plan

About 300 people turned out at a community meeting here Thursday, most of them angry about a proposal to convert a Robinsons-May department store into a high school site.

Los Angeles Unified School District officials have identified the department store on Laurel Canyon Boulevard near Oxnard Street as a possible new campus.

Officials told a packed auditorium at Walter Reed Middle School that they were open to considering alternate sites. But they said site suggestions should be made by Tuesday, so that they could be discussed at a second community meeting Oct. 13.

That further angered many of those at the meeting, who said they were not being given enough time to propose alternatives.

“I’m angry that we just heard about it,” said Christine Rufolo, an area resident. “It seems as if the Robinsons-May site is a done deal.”

Developer Arthur Sweet said the Robinsons-May store is an important retail anchor for the community, and condemning it for a school “would be disruptive to the economy.”

Sweet suggested alternate sites along Lankershim Boulevard for the school, including one near a Metropolitan Transportation Authority subway terminal slated to open next year.

Board of Education member Caprice Young said district officials want to hear those alternative suggestions, but said the district is under tight time constraints to identify new school sites.

*

The district risks losing a portion of state school-bond funding for new schools if officials fail to identify sites, purchase land and devise architectural plans before the June 30 deadline. A site must pass a feasibility study, which historically has taken nine months or longer, before the district can acquire property.

The Board of Education is scheduled to consider alternative sites at its Oct. 28 meeting, which is why alternate suggestions must be made quickly, district officials said.

Young estimated that North Hollywood needs at least two high schools, one middle school and three elementary schools to relieve overcrowding.

Districtwide, officials hope to build 100 schools in some of the city’s densest neighborhoods by 2008, when enrollment is expected to swell to 776,150 from the current 700,000.

Adding to the problem in the East Valley is the lack of vacant property and uncontaminated land, as well as opposition from residents and business leaders who want new schools--just not in their immediate neighborhoods.

Several business owners have questioned why the state Legislature can’t change the June 30 deadline.

At a meeting Thursday of the Universal City-North Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, Assemblyman Bob Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks) said his staff in Sacramento is currently checking on legislation that would give the district more time.

*

In North Hollywood, resistance from businesses and developers began shortly after the district announced its plan a month ago to study the Robinsons-May.

The 24.7-acre site also houses the corporate headquarters for the 55-store Robinsons-May division and employs an estimated 1,800 people in retail and administration.

The district has since broadened the target area, and is now looking at other parcels along a 55-acre retail corridor.

The district also faced opposition when it proposed building a school at a former Gemco site in the Valley. District officials ultimately withdrew that proposal.

Times staff writer Karen Robinson-Jacobs contributed to this story.