After a prickly months’ long fight that has left a majority of supporters of the continuation Culver Park High School feeling banished to the wilderness, the School Board last night finally approved an all-day kindergarten schedule for 132 inconvenienced youngsters at El Marino Language School.
Meanwhile the parents protesting potential unionization of adjuncts at El Marino were not afforded any relief from the Board. As the murkiness that surfaced last month continues to deepen, the only official mention of the subject was a succinct announcement from Human Resources Director Leslie Lockhart. She said the School District is awaiting a ruling from its lawyers as to whether there is an obligation to negotiate with the Assn. of Classified Employees.
In two other developments of note, no pending pink slips will be issued to any teachers, and the District’s solar energy consultant said a vendor soon will be chosen to install panels over carports in time for the next school term.
The unanimous decision by the School Board to accommodate the previously half-day pre-schoolers at El Marino, a foregone conclusion by this stage, routs the 70 continuation students from a cozy, quiet setting on the El Marino campus in Sunkist Park.
They will be transferred into heavily criticized bungalows in the midst of a high-density parking lot behind the Middle School and Farragut School.
Attempting to mollify the chorus of critics, Board President Karlo Silbiger stressed the move was temporary, not that any official knows what the timeline will be. To the delight of Board member Prof. Patricia Siever, Supt. Patti Jaffe has pledged to seek an alternative landing place for Culver Park students, on the campus of West Los Angeles College, where Ms. Siever is a faculty member.
Judging by last night’s reaction, the only pleased parties about the move were on the School Board.
Among the least pleased was David Mielke, who spent 19 years teaching at Culver Park.
“It was clear to me,” he told the newspaper, “that a majority of the Board is concerned that these students will be moving to a place that is less than ideal. I think Ms. Siever's suggestion that there could be space at West Los Angeles College merits further effort.
“The fact that they are still pushing the Supe to find a better place is a good thing. What frustrates me is that this is all happening so late. Culver Park staff should have been brought in to the conversation months ago. They could have given input about what kind of physical plant works best for their students. But this mad rush now suggests that these kids' education is less important than other kids’ education in our District. If it's all about the kids –-it needs to be all about all of our kids”.
To passively salve obvious wounds, the 85-student drafting class from the Middle School has produced 10 designs for making the spacious but needy bungalows livable if not optimistic for the Culver Park student body.
