Relocation of Bus Yard OKd by Board
Concerned about the safety of an estimated 5,000 students, the Los Angeles Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday to relocate 325 buses from a parking lot and maintenance facility within a block of five schools to a vacant parcel a few miles to the north.
The proposal, pushed by school board member Julie Korenstein, calls for the Los Angeles Unified School District to enter into a 20-year, $98,000-a-month lease for the seven-acre site, formerly home to a bakery and warehouse, at Woodley Avenue and Roscoe Boulevard.
Although school officials said they have received no reports of accidents or health problems, parents, students, teachers and administrators have expressed concern that buses using the existing parking lot could cause injuries, while the diesel fumes could jeopardize students’ health.
The bus parking lot, just off Balboa Boulevard, is near Birmingham High School, Mulholland Middle School, Valley Alternative School, Independence High School and West Valley Special Education Center.
“There were so many near-misses, it was an accident waiting to happen,” said Rick Prizant, Birmingham’s athletic director and co-chairman of the school-based management council. “And with the diesel fumes, kids were coughing and wheezing like crazy.”
School officials will build a 10,000-square-foot office building and maintenance garage for servicing buses. The new facility should be ready in six to eight months.
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