First of two parts
An abrupt change in the controversial plans for Culver Park High School’s new term –unannounced by the School District until this afternoon – has forced officials to abandon two parking lot bungalows where students were going to be housed in favor of a third, newer one on the same site.
The two reportedly 40-year-old original bungalows, in the asphalt lot behind Farragut Elementary, were loudly advertised in May, June and July as perfectly suitable destinations for the evicted continuation school students.
Not so.
They found out, evidently late last month, that neither portable building came close to Dept. of State Architect standards for schools. The guessing about fitness by School District leaders, and perhaps the School Board, appears to have been strongly inaccurate.
So far off was the guess that the District seems to have quickly dropped the first plans and turned to Building No. 3, which Asst. Supt. Eileen Carroll describes as spacious, easily able to accommodate up to 70 students. The Culver Park drama began under a cover of carefully arranged public darkness. One day in late March, students from three-decade old Culver Park were thrown out of their quarters on a day of mixed official messages last spring. First they were staying put, after months of rumors, and then they were being tossed out.
The word was “shh, and pass it on” for the disappointed student body and faculty who were suddenly dropped from a leafy campus they had shared for decades with El Marino Language School. The reason: To accommodate El Marino’s expanding kindergarten classes.
Entering the new Culver Park term, which begins the day after Labor Day, the continuation school, under new Principal Veronica Montes, has 40 students.
Weeks after Culver Park’s transfer from a traditional campus to a parking lot became more widely known, District leadership publicly had insisted that the old portable buildings not only were proper for the Culver Park students, upgrades to the properties were, or shortly would be, under way. The characterizations never made ther state of the upgrades clear.
The American Civil Liberties Union, among other parties, was and is at least suspicious of the School District’s grand design. The ACLU, which has not yet filed a case against Culver City, has been busily exchanging written correspondence with the District for almost two months,
Below is Ms. Carroll’s response of two weeks ago to the ACLU’s demand for more specificity about the School District’s intentions.
Brooks Allen
Director of Education Advocacy
American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California
1313 West Eighth Street
Los Angeles, California 90017
Re: Culver Park High School
Dear Mr. Allen:
Please allow this letter to serve as Culver City Unified School District’s (“School District”) response to your California Public Records Act (“CPRA”) request dated July 23, 2012 regarding Culver Park High School.
The School District has determined that it will remove both portable classrooms currently located near the School District’s elementary and middle schools. As such, the District will cease its refurbishing and remodeling projects as it does not intend to house Culver Park High School students in such portables.
Instead, the School District will temporarily house Culver Park High School students in Portable Building No. 1 for the 2012-13 school year. Building No. 1 was most recently used as the site for the Culver City Adult School during the 2011-12 school year. The School District is in the process of organizing the portable classrooms in preparation for the start of the next school year.
In light of the removal of both portables, we are limiting the scope of our response to your CPRA request to Portable Building No. 1.
REQUEST NO. 1:
Any and all documents that refer or relate to the portable buildings that are currently intended to house CPHS in 2012-13 (“Portables”). Please include all relevant materials from the 2007-08 academic year to the present.
All public records responsive to this request are attached hereto as Exhibit “A”.
REQUEST NO. 2:
Any and all documents that refer or relate to the Portables and compliance with the minimum standards set forth in Title 5, California Code of Regulations, Section 14001.
The School District is in the process of refurbishing and converting the former Culver City Adult School into the Culver Park High School site. As such, any documents relating to your request are premature at this time. The School District reserves its right to supplement its response upon receipt of documents relative to your request above.
REQUEST NO. 3:
Any and all documents that refer or relate to the Portables and compliance with Title 5, California Code of Regulations, Section 14010, which sets forth the California Department of Education’s Standards for School Site Selection.
The School District is in the process of refurbishing and converting the former Culver City Adult School into the Culver Park High School site. As such, any documents relating to your request are premature at this time. The School District reserves its right to supplement its response upon receipt of documents relative to your request above.
REQUEST NO. 4:
Any and all documents that refer or relate to the Portables and compliance with the DSA standards and requirements, including but not limited to: any and all documents filed with the DSA regarding the Portables, any and all documents that provide the “A” numbers for the Portables, and any and all documents that refer or relate to deliberations, assessments, or evaluations of whether CCUSD should pursue DSA review and approval before commencing with the refurbishing and remodeling work on the Portables in the summer of 2012 or designating the new Portables as the new site for CPHS.
All public records responsive to this request are attached hereto as Exhibit “B”.
REQUEST NO. 5:
Any and all documents that refer or relate to health and safety inspections of the Portables by licensed inspectors, including, but not limited to, inspections of the HVAC and fire life safety systems and any testing and/or assessments conducted related to air, quality, mold, asbestos, and/or lead paint.
All public records responsive to this request are attached hereto as Exhibit “C”.
REQUEST NO. 6:
CCUSD’s Asbestos Management Plan.
The School District has recently hired ENCORP to prepare its Asbestos Management Plan for the 2012-13 school year. The School District will supplement its response upon completion of the Asbestos Management Plan.
REQUEST NO. 7:
Any and all documents that refer or relate to the Portables and the California Environmental Quality Act, including, but not limited to, any and all documents that refer or relate to the potential impact of the car port structures that are to be erected in the parking lot next to the Portables.
On June 26, 2012, the School District Board of Education approved the contract between SunPower Corporation and the School District for the installation of solar panels over the parking lot next to the Portables. As such, any documents relating to the Environmental Quality Act are premature at this time. The District will supplement its response upon receipt of documents relative to your request above.
REQUEST NO. 8:
Any and all documents that refer or relate to CCUSD’s evacuation plan for students and staff at the new CPHS site.
The District intends to revise the evacuation plan for CPHS students and staff prior to the start of the 2012-13 school year and is willing to supplement its response at such time. If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Thank you for your professional courtesy and cooperation regarding this matter.
Very truly yours,
Eileen Carroll
Assistant Superintendent, Human Resources
Culver City Unified School District
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