City of South Gate v. Los Angeles Unified School District

Plaintiffs and appellants City of South Gate, Carmen Cordero, Amelia Me Bride and John Trujillo (appellants) appeal from a superior court judgment denying their petition for a writ of mandate against defendant and respondent Los Angeles Unified School District (District).

Because the project undertaken by the District which resulted in a pupil attendance boundary adjustment (boundary adjustment) is not covered by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the trial court did not err in finding the District was not required to prepare an environmental impact report (EIR).

Procedural and Factual Background

In accordance with their interpretation of the District’s project and CEQA, appellants sought a writ of mandate in the Los Angeles Superior Court to compel the District to comply with CEQA and prepare an EIR prior to the District’s implementation of a boundary adjustment between South Gate and Jordan High Schools.

Factually, the District has over 560,000 students and 600 schools, encompassing over 700 square miles and all or part of 11 incorporated cities, including South Gate. Pursuant to a study conducted by the Director of the District’s School Facilities and…