School Site Selection

Re “Lessons in Listening,” May 30.

It is true that Los Angeles Unified School District’s real estate and asset management branch began a process of moving quickly to consider the acquisition of the former Gemco store lot in Arleta. My colleague Julie Korenstein and I successfully appealed to the real estate branch to take a few steps back to consider all practical options for the new high school campus and to solicit public input during each step of this process. I thank the Arleta Looky Loos neighborhood organization for helping point out some of the original weaknesses in the public process.

I participated last week in an excellent conference at the Getty museum that brought together some of the brightest minds of our community. Together we strategized on how we could best deal with the school expansion process over the next several years. We must make sure to build safeguards against any future Belmont disasters. We must also make sure to involve the community in this process, because we are building schools that will be the backbone of our neighborhoods for years to come.

DAVID TOKOFSKY, LAUSD School Board Member, 5th District