Juan Soria School Site

* The Times had two very interesting articles recently. One dealt with the construction of two-story modular schools in Thousand Oaks to keep schools in the neighborhoods they serve (“Upper Classes,” Jan. 6). The other concerned the Belmont High School scandal in Los Angeles (“The Bolshevik Who Beat Belmont,” Jan. 7).

In light of these two very interesting and timely articles, why isn’t The Times covering the Juan Soria School scandal in Oxnard?

There are three legal issues involved:

* The school district’s use of public funds to improve, change or modify land it doesn’t own.

* Supt. Richard Duarte’s authority to sign the document prepared by the city providing services.

* City Councilman John Zaragosa’s signing a document that for five years provides free city services to the Emerson Street school site without a public hearing. I believe the government code provides for a public hearing if a municipality creates a debt or expenditure of $100,000 or more.

The interpretation of law on these three points must not be left to the law firm that represents both buyer and seller.

To the Oxnard school district’s credit, it is looking into building two-story classrooms on existing school sites. If it followed such a course, it could save a lot of money.

MARTIN JONES

Oxnard