School District Scraps Plan to Use South Gate Site

The Los Angeles Board of Education decided Tuesday to cut its losses on one of two construction projects that have turned into environmental fiascoes, voting to abandon plans for a new high school and elementary school in South Gate.

Rather than build on 40 acres long occupied by foundries, plating shops and automotive facilities, the district will launch a program to acquire small properties for 13 new primary centers for kindergarten through third grade. Existing elementary schools will be converted into schools serving grades 4 to 8, freeing up South Gate Middle School to be converted into a high school by 2006.

The decision will cost the board up to $25 million that has already been spent in condemning dozens of properties for the project. Some of that could be recouped by selling off the land the district now owns.

The district also could find itself enmeshed in litigation with some of the 38 property owners, many of whom have already relocated their businesses.

Howard Miller, the chief operating officer of the Los Angeles Unified School District, recommended the change to the board, saying the district needed to get out from under the burden of an environmental cleanup that would cost an estimated $20 million, and possibly twice that much.

The South Gate site and the Belmont Learning Complex became symbols of the district’s ineptitude in the face of horrendous overcrowding and played a major role in last fall’s ouster of Supt. Ruben Zacarias and key members of his administration.

The board faces a similar decision on whether to abandon the $200-million Belmont complex or spend millions of dollars to minimize the hazards of the former oil field site.

“The real thing that has driven [the South Gate] decision is that the district has got in trouble after getting into these open-ended environmental commitments,” Miller said.

Commenting after the 6-1 vote in closed session, board President Genethia Hayes said the board was admitting a past mistake and moving on.

“I want this city to be confident that when we err in judgment, we are able to admit it, to get ourselves out of the mess and come up with a solution,” Hayes said.

But board member Victoria Castro, who represents South Gate on the board, protested that there was not adequate consultation with that community, which has been promised a new high school since 1988. Castro also said she was dissatisfied with the lack of detail in the alternative plan.

“I don’t have the when and how,” Castro said.

Construction of primary centers has recently emerged as the favored strategy for relieving overcrowding. Officials expect that it will be easier to acquire the one- or two-acre parcels required for a primary center than the 15 to 20 acres needed for secondary schools.

However, Castro said, there is no guarantee that the district will be able to find land for all 13 proposed primary centers in the heavily industrial southeast area without incurring long delays and unknown costs for environmental cleanup.

Disclosures about the district’s problems with school construction helped a slate of reform candidates backed by Mayor Richard Riordan defeat three school board incumbents in spring elections.

While Belmont ignited a high-profile scandal, the South Gate project simmered behind the scenes. The district’s environmental safety team raised alarms that the toxic brew of industrial chemicals and a nearby petroleum pipeline could pose such serious obstacles that the board would not want to build the two schools.

After learning in October that staff was pressing ahead with condemnations despite the warnings, outraged board members elevated Miller from his position as facilities chief to the new post of chief executive officer, effectively stripping Zacarias of his powers as superintendent.

That move triggered a wave of protest that subsided only after the board bought out Zacarias’ contract and brought on Ramon C. Cortines to become interim superintendent when Zacarias leaves at the end of this week.

The move to cut the losses on South Gate won qualified acceptance Tuesday from officials in that city, which is home to some of the district’s most overcrowded schools.

South Gate Mayor Henry Gonzalez said he supports the board’s decision because the new primary centers can be built faster and will keep more children near their homes.

“I think it brings a community closer when kids can go to school in their neighborhood,” he said.

Gonzalez said he hopes the site can now become a more attractive industrial park. The district owns much of that land, and may be forced to sell at a considerable loss because of the toxic problems.

Ted Chandler, the executive director of the South Gate Chamber of Commerce, said some residents may be disappointed with the decision because many were looking forward to having a new state-of-the-art high school.

Given the problems with school construction at the district, he said many residents will be skeptical about whether the primary centers will be built any time soon.

“We keep getting promised things but nothing gets delivered,” he said.

South Gate Councilman Hector De La Torre said he thinks it will be difficult to find the necessary land to build the primary centers in the densely populated city.

“Who is going to determine whose houses they are going to tear down to make way for these primary centers?” he said.

An attorney representing owners of three of the South Gate parcels said he found the decision unfortunate because it will further delay payment to those who have relocated their businesses.

He said it is likely that in many of those cases a judge will determine whether the district must continue with the purchase or, if not, how much it must pay for the damage to the owners.

In another development related to school district overcrowding, the American Civil Liberties Union on Tuesday filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court alleging that the district has violated the rights of students at Rosemont Elementary School west of downtown by holding five classes in the school auditorium.

The lawsuit asks the court to order the district to immediately place about 100 students in separate classrooms.

District officials said the makeshift classrooms, which are separated by chalkboard partitions or in some cases cloth barriers, were intended to be a temporary accommodation to allow reduced class size.

Because the school’s playground will not hold enough single-story bungalows, two-story portables were ordered, said Gordon Wohlers, assistant superintendent for policy research and development.

However, delays in obtaining design approval and selecting a contractor have kept the district from installing the two-story buildings.

Saying the lawsuit underscores the district’s urgent need for new school sites, Cortines said he planned to visit Rosemont today to seek a solution.

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PLAN FOR SUB-DISTRICTS

Ramon Cortines unveils plan to create 11 sub-districts. B1