He Draws Line at Boundary Change

Will the high school boundary change between Watts and South Gate divide our city? John Greenwood, president of the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education, apparently does not feel it will. Gabriel Cortina, Region B superintendent, agrees it’s only logical to have a boundary change for a temporary solution to South Gate’s student crunch.

Mr. Greenwood and Mr. Cortina, when you say temporary how long do you really mean? Jordan High School has an enrollment of 1,089 students, an under-enrollment of 700 students. Yet parents who live in Watts put hundreds of their children on school buses to less violent areas in West Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley.

Mr. Cortina, we parents who live on South Gate’s west side don’t want our children exposed to Watts’ reputation for drugs, gangs, low state test scores, liquor store hangouts, etc. Many homeowners in South Gate once lived in Watts, Firestone and (the) Florence area. They moved to South Gate to better their environment and life style. Now we will be forced to send our children to an area where we don’t have an elected school board member to represent South Gate students.

May I suggest that if there is a boundary, our city attorney inform local real estate salesmen that they have a moral and legal obligation to inform prospective buyers their children will go to Jordan High if they buy a home west of Long Beach Boulevard.

Will our city be divided because the Los Angeles Board of Education may choose to draw lines in our city? I personally feel we will be divided--those of us who live on the west and those who live to the east. JOHN A. TRUJILLO

South Gate

Trujillo is a member of the South Gate High School Advisory Council and the City Council’s Anti-Boundary-Change Committee