HBCSD Corruption

Proof of the Lie:

Title 5 Regulations do NOT disqualify use of the Community Center for HBCSD students. School Board members and Superintendent Pat Escalante seemingly used the public's lack of knowledge of Title 5 and trust in the school board and superintendent in order to mislead the public regarding the truth about Title 5 standards as they applied to the school district using the Community Center or renovating North School instead of building new.

(1) Title 5 Regulations are STANDARDS not requirements.

(2) Title 5 Regulations only apply to NEW CONSTRUCTION, not to current buildings.

(3) Title 5 standards were adopted in 1993.  The CDE does not force school districts to make all existing schools meet relatively new Title 5 standards.  Making all school districts responsible for bringing all their schools up to current Title 5 standards would cost taxpayers BILLIONS of dollars.

(4) If renovations at either the Community Center or North School are entirely locally funded (i.e. no state matching funds used) then Title 5 standards AND Office of Public School Construction requirements do not need to be followed.  The state new construction or modernization funds may be minimal considering the total cost of building new or renovating an existing campus. 

(5) Title 5 Regulations give school districts substantial leeway as to their application. 

(6) Any Title 5 standard can be exempted; Item u., Section 14010 Standards for School Site Selection states:

"At the request of the governing board of a school district, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction may grant exemptions to any of the standards in this section if the district can demonstrate that mitigation of specific circumstances overrides a standard without compromising a safe and supportive school environment.”

(7) HBCSD has no problem violating Title 5 standards when it suits them: Overcrowding campuses; using a multipurpose room to hold two classrooms; building a new North School campus (aka Vista School) that is only 27% the CDE recommended size for 425 students even as it was built for 510 3rd and 4th graders; housing kindergarten students in classrooms designed for elementary school students at North School, etc. 

(8) What were the "supposed" Title 5 STANDARDS that the Community Center did not meet? Did these Title 5 "problems" have any validity?

1.) In his May 31, 2016 presentation, Terry Tao, HBCSD’s attorney, uses Title 5 standards to try to disqualify the use of the Community Center for HBCSD students.  See correct information provided in fact checking  May 31, 2016 presentation to the Joint meeting of the HB City Council members and HBCSD School Board members.  Time Stamp: 02:09:40  

A. Excerpt from the May 31, 2016 presentation by Terry Tao: Time Stamp 02:15:20

Slide: Reacquisition of Pier Avenue

-       Minimum School Site

-       4.7 acre site (This does not include Clark Field and the

basketball courts; the original playfield for Pier Avenue School.)

-       CDE recommendations for an Elementary School are:

B. Terry Tao’s statement:

"The Pier School [the Community Center] is about 4.7 acres. I took the

liberty of putting up what it is the California Department of Education

recommends for minimum sizes. So what you’ll see on the website, I just

grabbed and put on the page.  Ah 450 students; I think you’re talking

about between 300 and 450, requires a 9.6 acre site* which is about

what it is that your talking about as far as the Pier Avenue School as

it is.”

COMPETING INFORMATION:

a. 4.7 acres does not include Clark Field and basketball courts; the

original playfields for Pier Avenue School. 

b. According to the Guide to School Site Analysis and Development,

2000 Edition, the required acreage for 301 to 450 Grades Six through Eight

students is 8.8 acres*, NOT 9.6 acres as Mr. Tao states.

c. North School is only 2.35 usable acres for 425-510 students.

d. According to the Guide to School Site Analysis and Development,

2000 Edition, (Title 5 standards) the required acreage for 301 to 450 students,

grades One through Three, is 4.8 acres.

NOTE: According to a letter from the CDE dated April 11, 2019 to HBCSD,

the final North School site for 425 students is only 2.35 acres, which is

only 27% of the (Title 5) recommended 8.8 acres.*

*NOTE: Obviously the supposedly “required” 9.6 acre site for 300-450 students is only a CDE Title 5 recommendation NOT a mandate.

HBCSD has absolutely NO PROBLEM ignoring Title 5 recommendations

 when it fits their purposes.  For example:

A. Building a brand-new campus at North School (aka Vista School)

that is only 2.35 acres for 510 students: or approximately 27% of the

Title 5 recommended size for a campus 510 3rd through 4th grade students.

B. HBCSD put 5-6 classes of pre-kindergarten and kindergarten

students in classrooms designed for 3rd & 4th grade students at the new

Vista School in violation of Title 5 recommendations:

Title 5, Article 4, item h, 2.:  Classrooms designed for kindergarten

students are supposed to be larger (1,350 sq ft versus 960 sq ft) and

with attached bathrooms and easy access and supervision of a connected

outdoor play space.

C.      HBCSD also violated Title 5 standards when they created unsafe drop

off and pick up area at Vista School:

Title 5, Article 4,Section 14030, b Site Layout, #3:  “Vehicle traffic pattern

does not interfere with foot traffic patterns.  Foot traffic does not have

to pass through entrance driveways to enter school."

2.) Other Title 5 “issues” brought up by HBCSD to discourage consideration of the Community Center for district use:

A.      The Community Center is located on a busy street:

According to Title 5, Article 2, item l.: “The site shall not be on major arterial streets with a heavy traffic pattern as determined by site-related traffic studies…”

NOTE: PCH at Pier Avenue receives an average daily traffic of 50,000 vehicles which is allowable under CDE Title 5 standards.  Many schools are located off major feeder street.  Redondo Union High School is also located on Pacific Coast Highway.  Pat Escalante’s former position was at El Rodeo School which was located on the very busy Wilshire Blvd in Beverly Hills.

B.      Also included in Article 2, item l.: “… including those that require student crossings unless mitigation of traffic hazards and a plan for the safe arrival and departure of students appropriate to grade level has been provided by city, county or other public agency…”

NOTE: There are currently crossing guards at PCH and Pier Avenue and

PCH and 21st Street where children cross Pacific Coast Highway to

attend Valley School and View School.

C.      There is a gas station located less than one thousand feet from

the Community Center:

According to Title 5, Article 2, item h.: “The site shall not be located near an above-ground water or fuel storage tank or within 1,500 feet of the easement

of an above ground or underground pipeline that can pose a safety hazard…” 

NOTE: It is supposed that HBCD and the city are referring to the gas station

located close to Pier Avenue School. The operational words here are “ABOVE

GROUND” hazard.  The gas station located near the Community Center on Pacific Coast Highway does NOT have an ABOVE GROUND fuel storage tank.

NOTE: Is having a gas station actually dangerous to have near the Community

Center?  According to available information, gas contained at gas stations

does NOT explode, it simply burns. Can a cinderblock ‘blast wall’ be

constructed between the gas station and the Community Center to mitigate a

very unlikely explosion?

D.     There is no evidence of the Community Center being within 1,500 feet of the easement of an underground pipeline that can pose a safety hazard.  There are no other indications within 1500 feet of the Community Center of an underground pipeline that could pose a safety hazard.   There are no

posted warnings of dangerous underground pipelines on Pier Avenue or Pacific Coast Highway as there are on Rosecrans Blvd. and 190th Street.

E.      The issue of “contaminants” from the nearby Pacific Coast Highway traffic:

According to Title 5, Article 2, item q.: “The district shall consider environmental factors of light, wind, noise, aesthetics, and air pollution in its site selection process.”

NOTE: The city or school district can add air-conditioning or air filtrating system to the classrooms on the eastside of the Community Center to mitigate any issues with air pollution from PCH. (This would probably less expensive than spending $59M to rebuild North School.

F.      The Community Center may be located on an earthquake fault:

NOTE: According to Title 5, Article 2, item f.: “…the site shall not contain an active earthquake fault or fault trace.”

The operational word here is ACTIVE.  The Community Center is NOT located on an ACTIVE earthquake fault.