Letters to the Editor: L.A.’s schools and communities need less asphalt and more green space — they can share

To the editor: I commend Tony Barboza’s editorial on the environmental injustice of L.A.’s asphalt-covered schoolyards. I was vice president of the nonprofit People for Parks when the late Jack Foley, a CSUN professor of leisure studies, served as the group’s president. In 2012 we were able to get LAUSD to develop the first two Community School Parks at Vine Street and Trinity Elementary schools. Both the L.A. City Council and district passed resolutions in favor of the concept of Community School Parks program. The students used the parks when school was in session and the parks were open to the community on weekends and during vacations. Putting mini-parks on school campuses is one solution to our city’s lack of parks and to bettering school playgrounds for kids. I hope the next Community School Park is named for Jack.

John Perez, Los Angeles