This past Monday a group of over twenty parents from a local elementary school, Verdugo Woodlands, attended a Special Meeting of the Glendale Unified School District (GUSD) Board meeting. The meeting was scheduled to discuss ORG Money that addresses the removal of the portable classrooms (some of which have been on site since World War II). GUSD is planning on removing the portables and building new construction of classrooms.
The parents of Verdugo Woodlands Elementary School spoke up and shared with the School Board their concerns about the growth of the student body and traffic safety. They explained that they didn’t understand how the school could expand to such a size and that they didn’t think that the new building that is planned for the site would be large enough. The parents were also very vocal about their concerns about the students safety in regard to the high traffic that surrounds the school. One of the parents, Stephen O’Bryan said “we want to partner with the Board of Education in finding real solutions to the issues surrounding our local school and our community. We want to have real solutions to these very real problems while maintaining our sense of community.”
One of my concerns is how the expected growth of the school’s student body will impact the community along with the education of our students. VW has about 700 students now. I heard enrollment is expected to rise an average of 50 students per year. It will hit 1000 fairly quickly. That’s just too large for an elementary school in the burbs of Glendale.
Another concern is the effect on the students during the construction. Studies have shown that loud intermittent noises, like those from construction equipment, have an adverse effect on concentration and learning. What plans do they have to address this problem?
Lastly, what’s up with the arch and diamond over the front entrance? This isn’t an Inland Empire shopping plaza. Unnecessary embellishments are not exactly the Woodlands style and don’t match the existing building which has been in the hood for decades.