Inglewood schools construction underway, but the grass isn't always greener
By Matthew Reagan and Claudia Koerner
As construction continues across the Inglewood Unified School District, one recent visit to a newly renovated school site left Carliss McGhee, school board vice president, concerned over the health and safety of students.
“I was at Centinela [Elementary School], and my heart just cracked,” she said during an Oct. 1 school board meeting. “It just blows my mind because we moved from so much green space to concrete.”
Raphael Guzman, assistant superintendent for business services with the district, told The LA Local that the recent renovations at the school included resurfacing the existing blacktop surface, which was badly damaged. The project didn’t convert any grass to asphalt, he said.
“We couldn’t replace it with grass because of regulations,” he said.
Redesigning a school yard to incorporate new green space requires approval from California’s Division of the State Architect, which checks for issues such as drainage, irrigation and disability accessibility.
At the meeting, McGhee said she’s heard from a number of parents about injuries their kids have sustained due to a lack of green space at their schools. “I hope that we are looking at these new configurations and making sure that we're providing space that our children can play on that's safe,” she said.
Designers were “looking more at parking for the employees” over prioritizing green space, according to Brandon Myers, who also serves on the school board. He said that if further bond dollars are ever approved by voters and made available to the district, the facilities committee may recommend the inclusion of more green space.
Voters approved $330 million in bonds for the Inglewood Unified School District in 2012 and 2020, and they were promised modernized school sites, fixes to long-deferred maintenance issues and a wholesale transformation of Inglewood High School to incorporate the student body of
the now-closed Morningside High School.
Current active projects include the high school reconstruction, renovations at Centinela Elementary School and New Kelso/Former Daniel Freeman School, as well as reconstruction of the district’s Child Development Center.
The construction plans meet state standards for green space, and the district has also been working with sponsors on green space projects that fall outside the scope of the bonds, County Administrator James Morris told The LA Local. Singer Becky G worked last year to bring a community garden to Oak Street Elementary School, and the LA Rams have funded a garden at Woodworth-Monroe K-8 Academy. Kelso Elementary School also recently added a new soccer field.
The district will be looking at what kind of green space project could get state approval at Centinela Elementary, Guzman added, though they’ll need to find someone to fund it.
“We’re considering perhaps doing a soccer field there as well,” he said.
The next Inglewood school board meeting will take place Dec. 4. The Civilian Bond Oversight Committee will also be meeting that day. Both meetings are open to the public.
Reporting for this item was made possible by notes taken by LA Documenter Marylou Juarez at the Oct. 1 Inglewood Unified School District meeting. To learn more and join the LA Documenters, sign up for updates at our interest form.
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