In a battle between neighborhood preservation vs. building a new school, Valor Academy Elementary School emerged from a Tuesday afternoon Los Angeles City Council Planning and Land Use Committee meeting one step closer to victory.
The committee denied two appeals that sought to reverse the city Planning Commission’s Feb. 23 approval of Valor Academy Elementary School’s relocation plan to the site on Plummer Street in North Hills. The school is part of the Bright Star Schools network, which operates nine charter schools across Los Angeles.
Bright Star seeks to relocate from a cramped temporary school to the site of the historic 1914 Plummer Family home and an adjacent field. It has faced opposition from some community members concerned about environmental impacts who want to convert the site into a park and museum.
The move to Plummer Street would allow the school to create space for 172 more students and be closer to the predominantly low-income Latino community where many of its students live. The plan is expected to go before the City Council for a final sign off in coming weeks.
Valor Academy Elementary School Principal May Oey said she was thrilled by the committee’s decision to deny the appeals and support their project.
“Our community members here are low-income families with many needs, and by providing more space it will allow us to bring in more resources for our students, whether it be through rooms or food or extracurricular programs,” said Oey.
The project calls for construction of 28 classrooms housed in two buildings. The historic Plummer Family home, which was owned by pioneering San Fernando Valley farmer John L. Plummer, would be preserved and utilized for administrative offices.
While the controversy has centered on a desire to preserve the site, the appeals before the committee focused on environmental impact. One was filed by Charles Johnson on behalf of a group of residents and a second by Kevin Carmichael on behalf of the…
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