By Arnold Adler, Los Angeles Wave Staff Writer | http://bit.ly/1AW8eJ9
Friday, September 19, 2014 1:55 pm :: MAYWOOD — Plans have been completed for the Los Angeles Unified School District's new South Region High School No. 8, to be built at 5800 King Ave.
The school is aimed at relieving congestion at nearby Bell High School, said district spokesperson Jose DePaz.
The building will have 45 classrooms and 1,215 seats for students in grades nine through 12.
It sits on 8.41 acres in a former residential area of northern Maywood.
Construction is expected to start this winter and be completed in summer 2017, with classes beginning in August of that year, DePaz said.
Besides classrooms, the school will include a library, a multipurpose room, a food service facility, administrative offices, a playfield and jogging track, a gymnasium and parking, DePaz said.
Maywood officials opposed construction of the school, saying the school would take too much of the small city's homes. After winning approval in a vote, the city sued the district but was unsuccessful in stopping construction,
The LAUSD did reimburse the city for the costs of litigation.
South Region High School No. 8 is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s new school construction program, DePaz said.
Its goal is to provide every student with the opportunity to attend safe and healthy neighborhood school operating on a traditional, two-semester calendar.
In past years, classes were conducted year-round to accommodate students and share classrooms in overcrowded schools.
To date, LAUSD has opened 130 new schools, DePaz said.
From beginning to end, it takes approximately three to six years to build a school. During this time, land is selected, tested for environmental risk, purchased and approved by several California state agencies
The project timeline also allows for the design and construction of the new school, DePaz said.
In related action, the Maywood City Council Sept. 10 approved vacating 58th Street from King Street east to Maywood Avenue.
The street cuts through the middle of the school site north of Slauson Avenue and east of King, Mayor Oscar Magaña said.
“We didn’t want to split the school site,” he said.
Structures on the parcels, since demolished, included 10 homes built between 1920 and 1940, 28 with multiple units totaling 95 apartments and eight commercial sites for a total of about nine acres of land.
Project Manager Andre Dupret said the district tract layout consisted of six buildings totaling 200,000 square feet and a parking structure with basketball courts on the roof.
Classrooms will seat some 1,200 students and house 105 full and part-time faculty and staff.
The Maywood Planning Commission approved the plan July 15.
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