Concerned Citizens of South Central Los Angeles v. Los Angeles Unified School District

Plaintiffs Concerned Citizens of South Central Los Angeles and Equal Rights Congress of Los Angeles, unincorporated associations, and Gwendolyn Cannon appeal from an order denying their petition for writ of mandate.

In their petition, plaintiffs sought to compel defendants Los Angeles Unified School District (District) and Board of Education of the City of Los Angeles (Board) to set aside the certification of the subsequent environmental impact report (SEIR) for the planned construction of an elementary school, “Jefferson 3,” at a site in a low-income minority neighborhood in South Central Los Angeles, and requiring the elimination of 67 units of affordable housing and the displacement of 280 people; plaintiffs also challenged the Board’s approval of the Jefferson 3 project.

Factual and Procedural Background

As most of the factual and procedural background of this case was admitted in respondents’ answer to the first amended petition for writ of mandate, we obtain the following facts from those admitted portions, as well as from the administrative record.

The community of South Central Los Angeles is a primarily minority, low-income community of about 200,000…