LAUSD Decides not to Relocate ‘At Risk’ Students to Eagle Rock High

After about nine weeks of often-contentious discussions and lobbying by parents, the LAUSD has officially decided to rescind a cost-cutting plan to send some 40 “at risk” students from a leased Community Day School to a special location in .

On April 17, the staff of LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy informed LAUSD District 5 Board Member Bennett Kayser that a plan to relocate the so-called “Tri C” students to Eagle Rock High was being scrapped, according to David Estrada, a senior policy advisor in Kayser’s office.

As a result, the Tri-C students will remain in their current location in a mini mall at 6100 N. Figueroa St. in Highland Park, Estrada told Patch.

The initial LAUSD plan would have housed the Tri-C students (the moniker stands for “Community Centered Classrooms,” with the three C’s denoting “Tri-C”) in two secluded and fenced bungalows meant for special-needs students at Eagle Rock High. The idea was to give the Tri C students a separate space, under specially trained teachers, to focus on their efforts to graduate, while an alternative accommodation on campus was found for the special needs students.

But because Eagle Rock High School is planning to expand its program for gifted, highly gifted and high-ability students, which currently serves the 7th through 9^th grades, the campus would not be able to spare any space for Tri-C students, Estrada explained. Eagle Rock High, which runs from the 7^th to 12^th grade, is planning to add a grade every year to its gifted magnet program, Estrada said.

In effect, moving the Tri-C students to ERHS this summer could potentially have resulted in moving them yet again to some other location over the coming years to accommodate new students for the ERHS magnet program.

Besides the fact that such a scenario would not be cost-effective, “moving the [Tri-C] students twice does not show that we are committed to them,” Estrada said, referring to Kayser’s view on the matter. “It shows we are shuffling them around.” Most of the Tri-C students who were part of the LAUSD's original relocation plan are from Highland Park, Estrada said, adding that some are also from Eagle Rock. (Others are from campuses as spread out as Wilson, Lincoln, Belmont, Garfield and—the farthest—Esteban E. Torres High School in East L.A.)

Asked why the LAUSD top brass did not factor in the expected expansion of the ERHS magnet program before ordering the relocation of the Tri-C students, Estrada said: “They were looking literally at next year’s space and trying to minimize costs, which we understand. But if you’re looking at a long-term solution [for the Tri-C students] Eagle Rock is not it.”

Patch broke the story about the Tri-C controversy on February 7. In subsequent weeks, Mr. Kayser’s office received numerous e-mails and phone calls from parents and community members concerned about the prospect that not only would special-needs students at ERHS be displaced by at-risk youth, but their very presence on campus might be disruptive to other students.

“I am pleased for the opportunity to help resolve the Tri-C question at Eagle Rock High School,” Kayser told Patch. “This was a great example of how working together, better solutions can be found and in this case we were able to achieve a ‘win-win-win’” for all the concerned parties: “The special education students at ERHS will remain undisturbed, the students in the Tri-C will not be moved twice in an academic year, and the school district saves money.” Kayser added: “I am eager to continue working with the Eagle Rock community on the future projects and to see ERHS flourish.”

President Michael Larsen hailed the LAUSD decision as a positive one for the community. "This welcome news is a relief to the community and a testament to the responsiveness of our new School Board member, Bennett Kayser," he said.