One More Cozy LAUSD Deal

The Los Angeles Unified School District is still throwing money away, in this case by leasing out a choice piece of its property in the Santa Monica Mountains at a huge loss. A private riding club pays a measly $16,000 a year for the lease, and the district’s property tax bill is more than triple that amount. This sweetheart deal is especially galling at a time when the district can’t find enough land or money to build new schools.

An outraged Supt. Roy Romer, who learned of the deal from Times staff writer Louis Sahagun, has already ordered the new team at the LAUSD real estate division to sell the property and earmark the proceeds for school construction. The 7.6-acre site in Sullivan Canyon near Pacific Palisades is worth at least $14 million. The district should not accept less than market value, no matter how loud the objections of nearby property owners who want the site to remain unbuilt and exclusive.

The LAUSD originally purchased the site for $280,000 in 1961 for a new school in anticipation of a westward expansion in enrollment. That surge never happened because affluent families who moved to the area generally sent their children to private schools.

The district has tried to sell the land since 1982 without success, in part because of local opposition. If nearby homeowners want to buy it for full value, fine. Otherwise, end of discussion.

The Sullivan Canyon property is one of 10 so-called surplus sites among more than 1,100 LAUSD properties. The combined assessed value of the surplus properties is more than $27 million.

The Los Angeles school district needs to build 210 schools over the next six years to keep pace with student enrollment. If the Sullivan Canyon site and the other surplus properties can’t be used for new schools, the district should cash out quickly and stop throwing money away.