BATTLE OVER SCHOOL SITE BREWING RESIDENTS CITE CONCERNS ABOUT INCREASED TRAFFIC.

Byline: Beth Barrett Staff Writer

After successfully blocking a plan by Los Angeles Unified to convert a mothballed Woodland Hills campus into a high school, residents have vowed to fight the creation of a magnet school on another site.

District officials earlier this month withdrew plans to open a high school academy at the former Oso Elementary School, 5724 Oso Ave., citing concerns about traffic congestion and other issues.

But they plan to proceed with the creation of a sixth- through 12th- grade business and marketing magnet at the former Hughes Middle School, 5607 Capistrano Ave.

Patty Patano, one of the leaders of the ``No on Hughes'' community group, said the neighborhood doesn't want the facility converted into a 1,600-seat magnet school, where up to 80 percent of students could be bused from outside the area.

She said residents want an elementary school - and might even settle for a middle school - in keeping with the promises made during the campaign for Measure K, a $3.35 billion bond passed in 2002, that included money for programs to reduce busing.

``It's an example of the betrayal of what they've done to the entire city of Los Angeles,'' Patano said. ``We stand out as a prime example.''

But district officials say Measure K was intended to end involuntary busing. Magnets, on the other hand, draw students from around the district who voluntarily ride buses to other parts of town for the opportunity to participate in specialized programs.

More than 32,000 students are on waiting lists for enrollment in the district's magnet schools.

District A Superintendent Deborah Leidner said ``span'' schools, like Hughes would be - with students attending a single campus for all their post-elementary grades - have been very successful in boosting student achievement.

Leidner also said the Hughes is needed to meet the district's needs for secondary seats. In addition, 20 percent of the seats in Hughes would be reserved for students living in the neighborhood.

``I think the plans we have for that school are just phenomenal,'' Leidner said, saying middle school students would get marketing, finance and other business experience before moving into the higher grades.

Board member Marlene Canter, whose district includes Hughes and Oso, said she was convinced by her own inspections, and by community concern, that the Oso site was not suitable for a high school. The shuttered facility, however, could still be claimed by a charter group, she said.

Bob Veeck, a member of the Woodland Hills Homeowners Organization, who lives near Oso, said residents would probably support a well-run elementary charter, as long as they had input. In the meantime, he said, residents are wary.

``They still own the property, and they don't maintain it very well,'' Veeck said. ``Now they're threatening us with the possibility of a charter.''

Canter said she'll do what she can under the charter school law to support an elementary school over a high school.

``I'll do the best I can to advocate for them,'' she said. But, Canter said Hughes - a large property near Burbank Boulevard - is needed to relieve overcrowding at other middle and high schools in the San Fernando Valley.

Canter said the ``span'' configuration has been highly successful at other schools, including Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies.

She said that busing students, with the buses parked on campus rather than on the street, will cut down on traffic impacts, while the transportation patterns will be modified to lessen impacts on the neighborhoods.

``I know their concerns,'' Canter said. ``They don't want a school there, but they moved into a neighborhood that had a middle school.

The new Hughes school would have 1,600 seats, with 700 middle school seats relieving overcrowding at Sutter and Columbus middle schools, and 900 high school seats easing the space crunch at Cleveland and Reseda high schools.

``We are looking for relief for a variety of overcrowded middle and high schools,'' Canter said. ``The Valley is beginning to realize the overcrowding is occurring where they live, and that it's a big problem in the Valley.''

Environmental studies are under way at Hughes, and Canter said the neighbors concerns, including traffic, will be addressed.

Patano said residents plan to continue to fight the new school proposal.

``We want a community school and an end to busing,'' Patano said.

Beth Barrett, [phone]

beth.barrett(at)dailynews.com

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Map:

Former Hughes Middle School

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