April 5, 2004

Dr. Don Brann, Superintendent
Members of the Wiseburn School Board
Wiseburn School District
13530 Aviation Blvd.
Hawthorne CA 90250

Re: Comments on Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration for the Wiseburn School District Project, which includes:

  • Addition of 6 classrooms plus restroom at Peter Burnett Elementary School
  • Replacement of Richard Henry Dana Middle School
  • Replacement of Juan Cabrillo Elementary School
  • Increase in enrollment capacity at all 3 schools

    Dear Dr. Brann and Members of the Wiseburn School Board:

    The community has shown support for the modernization of the schools within the Wiseburn School District. The voters approved Proposition W in 1997 for $14 million to refurbish Peter Burnett school and to replace Anza Elementary school. In 2000, the voters approved Measure E for $35 million to replace both Dana Middle and Cabrillo Elementary schools. However, members of the community have told the Hollyglen Homeowners Association (HHA) they would have voted differently if the bond measure indicated the plan was to relocate Dana and Cabrillo schools instead of rebuild them in their existing locations.

    Impacts from this project on the Hollyglen community hinge largely on the footprints chosen by the School Board for the new schools. New footprints close to the existing footprints will have the least impacts, whereas relocating the schools and the fields will have the most impacts to the community.

    We encourage the School Board to do the following:

    1. Rebuild both Dana and Cabrillo schools in their existing locations. Do not flip-flop the school buildings with the fields, as this will adversely effect the community by altering traffic flow and eliminating open space within the community

    2. Use the Measure E bond funds to rebuild both Dana and Cabrillo schools to:

  • provide new modern classrooms for the last two schools in the district that need to be modernized, and resolve existing problems with student drop-off and pick-up traffic
  • fulfill objective of Measure E, and live up to the promise of rebuilding both Dana & Cabrillo schools with the funds the community approved for that purpose

    3. Downsize the size and designs for the new Dana and Cabrillo schools to ensure there are sufficient funds to rebuild both schools, as well as funds to maintain the schools once they are built.

    Use Sepulveda School as Interim Campus

    To enable rebuilding of the new schools in the existing locations, and to minimize the impact on students and staff during construction, we suggest the School District utilize the existing Sepulveda School campus as an interim campus during rebuilding of both Dana and Cabrillo schools.

    The Sepulveda School campus is owned by the Wiseburn School District, and is currently leased out for office space. Dr. Brann has stated it would cost approximately $1 million to convert it back into a school. The benefits of doing so are:

  • Dana students could be moved to the Sepulveda School campus during construction, to enable building the new Dana school either on or as close to the existing footprint as possible. This will preserve the playfields and spare the expense of redoing the fields and replacing the field lighting at this point in time. Moving the students will also eliminate Dana staff's concerns about disruption to the learning environment and lack of space for students to have lunch and recess during construction.
  • Building the new school near Aviation will allow the AYSO and Little League to continue providing sports programs for the community's children during construction. No other fields are available for AYSO and Little League to use during construction.
  • Placing the school buildings next to Aviation will provide a buffer between the busy traffic and noise of Aviation Blvd and the fields, thereby providing a better environment for the children to play in. Relocating the fields next to Aviation would expose the children to higher concentrations of air pollution from traffic on Aviation, and potentially cause accidents if a ball goes over the fence and hits a car driving by on Aviation. Keeping the fields within the community is by far the better option.
  • Once rebuilding of Dana is completed, the Sepulveda School campus would become the interim school for the Cabrillo students, so that Cabrillo school can be demolished and rebuilt on 135th Street.
  • Once rebuilding of Cabrillo is completed, the Sepulveda School campus could be used to accommodate projected increased enrollment, thereby eliminating the need to enlarge Cabrillo and Burnett school.

    Traffic

    The traffic study performed did not adequately assess the traffic impacts within Hollyglen from this project.

  • Instead of determining impacts based on peak traffic volume (i.e., during student drop-off and pick-up), the traffic consultant averaged the traffic over 24 hours and concluded there was no significant impact.
  • What date and day of the week was the study conducted? Was this the peak day for school traffic?
  • Intersections within Hollyglen surrounding the project sites that were not studied for level of service include: 135th St. @ Isis, 135th St. @ Glasgow, 134th St. @ Isis, 134th St. @ Glasgow, 134th St. @ Delafield, 134th St. @ Hindry, 138th St. @ Isis, and 135th St. @ Judah.
  • To provide the information necessary for the School Board to choose the footprints with the least impact, the traffic study should have provided a side-by-side comparison of traffic for each of the Dana and Cabrillo footprint options as follows:
  • Cabrillo Scheme 1 (134th St. entrance) vs Scheme 2 (135th St. entrance)
  • Dana Scheme 1 (Isis @ 135th St) vs Scheme 2 (right next to existing Dana)
  • Study should have calculated the trip generation rates for each school with the projected student and staff increases, and compared this to the "without project" baseline. The percentage of students who arrive and depart by vehicle (two vehicle trips per day) for each school should have been noted.
  • Study should have analyzed impacts from possible street modifications for traffic mitigation or safety reasons, including the addition of stop signs at uncontrolled residential intersections, widening of 134th Street, and possible alteration of 135th Street from a secondary arterial to a residential collector category.

    Bottom line: we feel the traffic study did not adequately assess the traffic impacts from relocating the schools and entrances and increasing the enrollment capacity at each school, and the study's conclusions of "no significant impact" are incorrect. (See video of existing Cabrillo school traffic congestion on 134th Street and Anza school traffic on Hindry Ave, submitted 3.18.04 by Bryan Shepard.) If the School District is not going to keep Dana and Cabrillo schools in their existing locations, additional traffic study needs to be done to more thoroughly evaluate the impacts.

    Open Space

    Replacing existing open fields with school buildings and parking lots will eliminate existing open space within the community, and impact aesthetics of the community and resident's scenic vistas. Residents purchased their homes considering the existing location of the schools and the fields. Switching the locations of the school buildings with the fields would bring school buildings, noise, and lighting closer to resident's homes, move the open space from within to the outside of the community, and impact resident's views and quality of life.

    Need for Increased Enrollment Capacity at Cabrillo and Burnett Schools

    During the Los Angeles Air Force Base project discussions and negotiations, the School District stated they could accommodate additional resident students either by displacing permit students (currently 30% of the District's enrollment), or by re-opening the Sepulveda School. Why is the School District now planning to increase the size and enrollment capacity at Cabrillo and Burnett instead of the previously stated plan?

    Impacts to Human Beings

    The answer to the last category in the Initial Study Checklist:

    "Mandatory Findings of Significance, c) "does the project have environmental effects which will cause substantial adverse effects on human beings, either directly or indirectly?"

    depends on which footprint is chosen for Dana and Cabrillo schools. It is currently marked as "less than significant impact" - however, relocating the Cabrillo and Dana school footprints and fields will have the following adverse effects on residents and children:

    Traffic congestion / gridlock:

  • significant increase in school traffic on residential streets (134th St., Isis, Glasgow, etc.) surrounding Cabrillo school
  • traffic blocking resident's driveways, traffic congestion impeding resident's access to and from their homes
  • hinder emergency vehicle access to residential area Quality of life:
  • lighting and noise impacts on neighbors if schools are moved closer to homes
  • decrease open space within the community Safety:
  • decrease safety of children walking / riding bikes home and crossing residential streets congested with school traffic (Note: we hear numerous complaints about the unsafe driving of parents)
  • increase in accidents, damage to resident's cars parked in front of their homes Children's Sports Programs:
  • no other fields are available to move AYSO and Little League games to if Dana fields are closed during school construction
  • may have to cease or scale back programs that provide exercise and developmental benefits to children
  • sports teams, children may not return after fields re-open

    These adverse effects on residents and children need to be considered in the evaluation of environmental effects from this project and in the School Board's final decision. Significantly altering the footprint for either school will adversely affect nearby residents and children who participate in the AYSO and Little League programs, therefore the answer to this question would change from “less than significant impact” to “potentially significant”.

    Thank you for your consideration and response to these comments and suggestions. Hollyglen residents are concerned about increased traffic congestion, loss of open space within the community, and impacts to residents' quality of life if the footprints and entrances to the schools are relocated. In the best interest of the community, we urge the School Board to keep the footprints for the new schools as close as possible to their current locations.

    Sincerely,

    Cindy Parsons
    Chair, Hollyglen Homeowners Association School Rebuilding Committee

    c: Hawthorne City Council
    Hawthorne Planning Department

    Copyright © 2004 Hollyglen Homeowners Association