HUNTINGTON PARK — The city will gain a second high school with the ground breaking March 25 for South Region High School No. 7, but it could lose its existing high school.

Los Angeles school board member Yolie Flores informed City Council Monday night that ceremonies would take place for the new high school at 6361 Cottage St., northeast of Alameda Boulevard and Gage Avenue.

The new school is expected to be finished in July 2012, she noted.

Part of the 12-acre site will be on the former Westside Park, 2061 Gage, recently renamed Raul R. Perez Memorial Park for the late council member.

The district will replace the 3.5-acre park with a 4.5-acre facility north of the construction site at 6200 to 6208 Alameda St.

Construction of the new park will begin this summer and be completed next spring, Flores said.

Meanwhile, the city will use Middleton Elementary School, 6537 Malabar St., for Westside Park activities.

But Flores also warned the council that Huntington Park High School could be taken over by the state if it does not improve the academic performance of the students.

“It’s very distressing. We don’t want that to happen,” she said.

“Only four percent of the high school students are proficient in math and 20 percent in language arts (English). I just wanted to give you a heads up,” she told the council.

Other new schools planned in the Huntington Park area include South Regional Elementary School, No. 5, 3232 Saturn Ave., to be completed in July 2012; South Regional Middle School No. 3, in neighboring Walnut Park, also due for completion July 2012; and the Bell Education and Learning Center, a regional high school in neighboring Bell, with work to start this fall and completion estimated at 2011-12.

The final area school to be built with the current bond project is in Maywood, where city officials are protesting the location and are seeking support from surrounding cities.

“Please don’t approve their project,” said Flores, who represents District 5, which covers the Huntington Park area.

The main reason for her visit, Flores said, was to inform the city of the district’s financial problems, trying to avoid an estimated $1.4 billion deficit for this fiscal year and a projected $700 million short fall next year.

A parcel tax placed on the June 8 ballot charging each landowner $100 a year, would raise about $100 million if it's approved by voters. The district also is seeking federal stimulus funds.

To cut costs the district has closed several administrative offices, expects to lay off teachers and clerical workers, will increase class size from the current 24 students per teacher to 29, eliminated arts and music programs and dropped day-long kindergarten, going back to half-day sessions for that grade.

“We are facing very difficult tasks,” she said, adding the district is in negotiations with unions for pay cuts to save jobs.

A graduate of Huntington Park High School, Flores has been on the LAUSD board for four years and is currently vice president.

She said her goal has been to change the district. Her plan calls for smaller schools, no more than 400 students in a middle school and 500 in a high school.
“Students do better in a small, safe environment,” Flores said, adding she favors early education which would include both students and parents.
Flores said she was the one who proposed the school choice plan, approved by the LAUSD board Feb. 23, in which some 12 current schools and 24 planned new schools would be turned over to private groups.
She called for more quality teachers by evaluating the seniority, offering merit pay and demanding teacher competency.