Posted: January 27th, 2006

January 24, 2006

Board of Education
Los Angeles Unified School District
333 South Beaudry Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90017

Re: Central Region High School #13 (Taylor Yard)

Dear President Canter and LAUSD School Board Members:

The Center for Law in the Public Interest (“Center”), Anahuak Youth Soccer Association, and others are writing to express our concerns regarding Central Region High School #13 (Taylor Yard). Schools at Taylor Yard should be centers of the community with adequate playing fields and green space for children to play and recreate, open after school hours and weekends. Los Angeles Unified School District (“LAUSD”) should work with the community and local, state, and federal agencies to develop a comprehensive and coherent plan for schools at Taylor Yard that are part of a broader vision for the area.

Schools at Taylor Yard should be developed as part of a larger vision for the region. To date, State and City officials, and the school district are stumbling over themselves to develop individual projects along the Los Angeles River with no coherent plan to serve the community. The historically underserved, overwhelmingly Latino community surrounding Taylor Yard stands to lose the most from this lack of vision and strategic planning. For example, the State and City are developing a new park at Taylor Yard (El Río de Los Angeles State Park), yet there seems to be no effort on the part of LAUSD, and State and City officials to link new schools at Taylor Yard with the new park. Further, the City of Los Angeles is currently developing a Los Angeles River Master Plan that will guide the development of the River and its surrounding areas. LAUSD should work with the City to plan for green schools along the Los Angeles River as part of this process. LAUSD should develop and implement a strategic plan for the joint use of Taylor Yard schools and parks to make the optimal use of scarce land and resources.

The community within a five-mile radius of Taylor Yard is 56% Latino, 17% Asian, 20% non-Hispanic white, and 4% black. Twenty-seven percent live in poverty. The median household income is $32,863, just 69% of that for the State. There are 235,000 children within five miles of Taylor Yard. These children live in some of the most park-starved neighborhoods of Los Angeles. They need places to play and recreate. The schools at Taylor Yard must provide adequate playing fields and green space, and be open on weekends and after school hours.

LAUSD must work through its schools and other agencies, including the Department of Recreation and Parks, to address profound student health concerns. Fully 87% of children in LAUSD are not physically fit, according to State Fitnessgram standards. No child passed at 40 schools. Only 10% are fit at one-third (200/600) of our schools. New schools at Taylor Yard must be developed in ways that address this rapidly growing health crisis.

LAUSD must ensure that communities, like Taylor Yard, which supported the school bond measures receive their fair share of economic benefits from new school construction and modernization. We commend LAUSD’s jobs and contracts program. The school construction program will create 174,000 jobs, $9 billion in wages, and $900 million in local and state taxes. The School District has targeted small businesses and local workers to ensure they receive a fair share of these benefits through programs that serve as best practice examples for other public works projects around the country. LAUSD provides ten-week pre-apprenticeship training, and facilitates placement in union apprenticeship training programs. The residents of the communities surrounding Taylor Yard must receive local jobs, small business contracts, and apprenticeship training.

LAUSD must ensure full and fair public participation and full information so that any schools at Taylor Yard serve the needs of the community as defined by the community.

The opportunity to develop successful new schools at Taylor Yard is upon us. However, the new schools will only be a success if they are part of a larger, greener vision for the area. A comprehensive and coherent plan for Taylor Yard should include: New top-quality K-12 schools; Affordable and work force housing and rental units; Mixed-use development that promotes walking with schools and parks, active recreation, public transit, and healthy lifestyles; Senior citizen, child care and preschool services and facilities; Neighborhood-appropriate commercial development, with local jobs for local workers; Construction that incorporates renewable energy technologies. LAUSD must work with all relevant stakeholders to develop schools that serve as centers of the community and provide playing fields and green space for the children of Taylor Yard. We ask that the School Board address these concerns before acting on any proposal for new schools in the Taylor Yard vicinity. We incorporate the attached letter from community members to the extent it is not inconsistent with the position above.

Sincerely,

Christopher T. Hicks
Policy Director and Counsel
Center for Law in the Public Interest

Raul Macias
President/Founder
Anahuak Youth Soccer Association