MARK TWAIN/MANDARIN IMMERSION PLAYGROUND ACRES

In 1986, LAUSD was sued, and forced to apply a reasonable student density/playground space formula to campuses:

“In the case of Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), compliance with the Rodriguez Consent Decree, which additionally recommends the following playground areas:

Elementary School

Up to 500 students           1.4 playground acres

Up to 750 students           1.7 playground acres

Up to 1,000 students        2.0 playground acres

Up to 1,250 students        2.3 playground acres

Junior High/Middle School

Up to 2,400 students        6.0 playground acres

High School        

Up to 3,600 students        9.0 playground acres

When the consent decree was lifted in 2006, LAUSD issued Policy Bulletin BUL-2574.0 which stated:

“On April 7, 2006, the District obtained a favorable court ruling that ended the Rodriguez Consent Decree. The court denied the plaintiffs’ request to extend the term of the decree beyond December 2005. While the District has prevailed, it is important to continue to maintain the established policies and procedures used to ensure that the school density guidelines are kept and that the highly qualified and experienced teachers are equitably distributed among all schools.”

Screen shot of Twain showing existing playground acres

Proposed project states on page 3P-5 of the DEIR that there is ‘no net loss’ of rec facilities/acres:

Implementation of the proposed project would provide the new Mandarin and English Dual-Language Immersion Elementary School with elementary and kindergarten play areas, potentially resulting in no net loss of recreational facilities after the removal of a portion of an athletic field (1.9 acres) and an oval track (1.0 acre). Approximately 2 acres of the turf athletic field would remain as part of the middle school campus, as well as approximately 3.06 acres of asphalt recreation area, including nine tennis courts, 12 full-sized basketball courts, six half-sized basketball courts, 11 four-square courts, multiple handball courts, and a straight track for short-distance running. The oval track would be redrawn around the remaining asphalt recreation area.

·        DEIR states the total of the remaining playground space as approximately 5.6 acres.

·        Rodriguez Consent Decree Bulletin recommends space of 1.7 acres [elementary school] for up to 750 students and 6.0 acres [middle school] for up to 2400 students for a total of 7.7 acres. ZIMAS calculates existing Twain playground space at about 7.8 acres.

·        LAUSD is therefore violating its own stated policy on playground space at Twain by creating a potential net loss of 2.2 acres or about 1/3 of the existing space. LAUSD needs to retain all the existing playground space if a new campus is added.