As community members and parents of students attending Short Avenue Elementary School, we recently learned that ICEF Vista Elementary Charter Academy was offered a number of classrooms (at least five) on our campus.

This raises several concerns for us:

1. Open Enrollment. Short Avenue applied to become an open enrollment school for the 2016-2017 school year. It is our understanding this application has been put on hold due to ICEF Vista’s interest in our facilities. We want to grow our excellent school organically, and this hold on our application prevents our growth. We are tremendously proud of our school, and we want to allow other children to become a part of our diverse community.
2. “Empty classrooms.” We use our facilities in ways that further our children’s education, enrichment, and instruction. The rooms that were offered to ICEF Vista are not empty, they include our science lab, art room, Latin lab, and the room used by our after-school programs. Where does a science lab go? How can we sustain our free after- school program, one used by a large percentage of our working families?
3. Traffic. Our school is nestled in a residential neighborhood, with narrow streets and little parking. The impact a second school would have on our local community, and the traffic implications for the already-crowded Centinela corridor, would be disastrous.

We want our school to thrive and grow, and we need to continue to use the instructional space we have for our children’s continued growth and enrichment. We support our local public school, and we OPPOSE THE CO-LOCATION OF ICEF VISTA CHARTER SCHOOL ON OUR CAMPUS!