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Exhibit
PREPARED TESTIMONY
OF
VERONIQUE WILLS
Q: Please state your name, professional position, employer, and business address.
employer is the Los Angeles Unified School District. My business address is James A. Foshay
Learning Center, 3751 South Harvard Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, 90018.
A: The purpose of my testimony is to describe the student body at Foshay Learning Center,
to discuss the uses of the Foshay campus, and to explain the safety concerns I have with the
A: I have been Principal of Foshay Learning Center for close to seven years. Prior to that, I
spent 10 years as an assistant principal at Foshay. Before I came to Foshay, I taught for 10 years
at Wilmington Middle School, for six years in special education and four years in math. Before
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teaching in California, I was a teacher in Chelsea, Michigan for three years, working with
psychology. I have an M.A. in Emotional Disturbances and a teaching credential from Eastern
University Dominguez Hills, and have completed some doctoral work at University of Southern
A: My primary jobs are to foster student achievement and to maintain a safe campus. I
create social and learning opportunities for students and try to build a healthy community around
the school. In order to do that, I have to ensure student safety both on campus and as students
travel to and from the school. Of course, I also manage the day-to-day operations of the school
and make certain that our school runs smoothly. I supervise 6 assistant principals and 300
A: This is a K through 12 school, though most of our students are in middle school. We
have about 185 elementary school students in our “Village” campus, and about 650 high school
students. There are over 2500 middle school students at Foshay. The middle school students are
on three “tracks” so that only two tracks attend school at any one time. We are a year-round
school, so at any time of year there are approximately 2000 students attending Foshay.
Our students are 78 percent Latino and 20 percent black. Thirty-seven percent of our
students are English language learners. Even for our students who are proficient in English,
many have parents who speak exclusively Spanish. This is a low income area. Ninety percent of
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our students qualify for the federal free lunch program. This is also a violent area plagued by
problems with gangs. We screen our entering sixth grade students for post-traumatic stress
syndrome because we find that so many have been exposed to violent events that effect their
ability to learn. Approximately 10 percent of our students are in foster care. We have roughly
A: The elementary and secondary schools are on different schedules. The secondary schools
start at 7:20 a.m., with a dismissal bell at 3:18 p.m. Elementary school begins at 8:30 a.m. and
dismisses at 2:45 p.m. For students in secondary school, we offer an intersession that students
may attend when their “track” is not in school. It is our version of summer school. Intersession
runs from 7:30 a.m. to 11:50 a.m. Students also arrive starting as early as 6:00 a.m. for our
Q: Are there any other reasons that students or other people come to your campus?
A: We have a health clinic located on our campus for the community to use. It is open every
day from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Saturday for limited hours. The clinic stays open during our
school vacations. We also have a number of students who come to Foshay between 6:30 and
7:30 a.m. to board a bus and travel to other schools. On Thursdays, these students return as early
as 1:30 p.m., and students return as late as 6:00 p.m. We also have a Saturday School that brings
200 to 400 students to campus from 8:00 a.m. to 12:05 p.m. on Saturday. Parents are also very
frequent visitors to Foshay. There are from 10 to 15 parent-teacher conferences each day, and 10
to 15 parents come each day to address administrative issues or pick students up early. In
addition, we have a Parent Center where parents can take ESL and technology classes or attend
parent workshops. There are probably 10 to 20 parents at school each day for these events. In
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total, I’d estimate that there are anywhere from 30 to 60 parents visiting campus daily, outside of
A: Most students either walk or are dropped off by their parents. A large number of students
— more than 100 — take the public bus that stops at Western and Exposition. With the
beginning of construction of the Expo rail project, our drop offs and pick ups have become very
difficult. Parents are dropping their children in the middle of Harvard and even on Exposition.
In the afternoon, we have staff outside to supervise parent pick ups, but it is very difficult to keep
We have two buses for special education students, used by about 15 students.
Of students who walk to school, approximately 400 use a pedestrian tunnel that crosses
underneath Exposition at Harvard. We call this the Harvard tunnel. There are about 1,000
students who cross Exposition either at Western or Denker. Many students cross Exposition at
Western because the shops on the southwest corner are popular student hangouts.
Q: Do you make any efforts to inform students or parents about the safest routes for
A: Yes. We provide parents a flyer showing the legal ways to pick up their children, and we
send parents a map showing the approved routes for walking to school. We do not do any formal
Q: Can you tell us more about the tunnel, starting with what you know of its previous
use?
A: Yes. The tunnel was open 24 hours a day some years ago. It became very dangerous and
the City of Los Angeles closed the tunnel due to vandalism and drug use. When I arrived at
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Foshay in 1992, the tunnel had been closed for some time. In looking for a safer alternative for
our students to cross Exposition, we were able to arrange with the City to open the tunnel for
limited hours. When we opened the tunnel for the first time, it was disgusting. It was full of
urine and other unhealthy material. We restored and painted the tunnel, using the help of our
parent volunteers, and today we, together our parent volunteers, manage the tunnel’s operation.
We have a key to the tunnel and keep it locked except for periods just before the morning bell
and just after dismissal, for a total of about one hour a day, when it is open for student use with
our supervision.
morning, the tunnel is supervised by parent volunteers, and in the afternoon it is supervised by
volunteers from the Safe Passages component of the L.A. Bridges program and by the staff of
Foshay. (The L.A. Bridges program is a partnership with the City of Los Angeles for gang
prevention and early intervention, and Safe Passages is a program that helps provide students
with safe routes to and from school by creating a visible adult presence — with trained
volunteers — near impacted middle school campuses.) We have three to five people keeping
watch at any one shift. We post people on either end of the tunnel and sometimes in the middle
A: The tunnel is open from about 7:00 to 7:30 a.m., and 3:15 to about 3:40 p.m.
Q: Given the schedules you just described, would you say that students are coming and
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A: Yes. Students come to and leave the campus at many hours when the tunnel is not open.
We simply do not have the manpower to keep the tunnel open for longer than we do.
Q: Would you be able to open the tunnel at all hours of the day?
A: No. The tunnel cannot be kept open unless there is someone there to supervise it. If we
kept the tunnel open at all times without supervision, it would attract vagrants, drug dealers, gang
members, and vandals. It is likely that the lights in the tunnel would be knocked out
periodically, leaving the tunnel in darkness. When we first opened the tunnel, we had to
persuade students to use the tunnel because they were scared to go down there. If the tunnel
were open 24 hours a day without full-time supervision, students would again cease using the
tunnel. It would also be impossible to get volunteers to supervise the tunnel during limited
hours, because those volunteers would be afraid of what they might find when they arrived at the
tunnel. We currently do not publicize the existence of the tunnel beyond our student body
because we want to ensure that its use is limited to students and parents in order to maintain it in
Q: Is the tunnel accessible to people with disabilities who are confined to a wheelchair?
A: No. Currently, there are no students with disabilities, but some of our parents have
disabilities. These individuals cannot use the tunnel. If we have any students with mobility
Q: During your time at Foshay, have there been any accidents involving students going
to or from school?
A: Yes, there have been a number of accidents during my years at Foshay, some of them
quite serious. A student was hit by a car while crossing Exposition during the rain at a time
when the tunnel was closed. He got caught by the car and was dragged for a distance. It took
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him months to recover. Another bad incident occurred when a person was making a right turn
off of Harvard onto Exposition. The driver hit several students, and teachers were able to save
one student only by lifting the car off the student. That student was injured for life. Another
serious accident happened when some intersession students, leaving campus when the tunnel was
not open, were crossing at Denker and Exposition. One student was hit by a truck making an
illegal turn. The truck dragged her along the gravel and her face was shredded, requiring serious
medical attention.
A: We have one crossing guard, for the intersection Harvard and 37th, near the elementary
school.
Q: What concerns do you have about how your students might behave when the rail
line is operational?
A: I am very concerned about my middle school students. I call the age from 10 to 13 the “I
dare you” age. Students at this age are not as aware of the consequences of their actions and
may engage in unsafe behavior. Currently, my middle schoolers will pretend to push their
friends in front of on-coming buses, and throw rocks at passing cars. I think that students in this
age range are likely to try to beat the train or try to touch the train as it passes.
Many of my students wear iPods and headphones, and are distracted and don’t pay
attention to traffic. Although the students will listen to a crossing guard, if there is no one at an
intersection (which is the case for most of the intersections near Foshay), students often forget to
I am also concerned about security of our students. With the construction on Exposition
Boulevard it has become difficult to monitor what is going on across the street, and using the
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tunnel to get to conflicts requires us to go out of sight temporarily, which is detrimental to
controlling campus safety. Having a line of sight and access to activity on the far side of
Exposition has been very important in maintaining safety near our school.
Q: What are your concerns about the proposal to maintain the Harvard tunnel and run
A: I am concerned about where my students will cross in the hours that the tunnel is not
open. As I just discussed, students come to and go from this campus at many hours when we
cannot have the tunnel open. Student or parents with limited mobility or in wheelchairs would
be unable to use the tunnel, even if it were open. Students have told me that they will be scared
to use the tunnel when the train is operating, due to the noise and vibration from the train, as well
as a fear that the tunnel will collapse from the train or that in an earthquake the tunnel and train
will collapse upon them. I am concerned about students being forced to use the other at-grade
crossings in the area because I do not think the at-grade crossings provide adequate student
safety.
Q: Would the at-grade crossing at Western and Exposition be used by students when
Yes. That crossing, and the crossing at Denker and Exposition, are the only options for students
Q: Are you familiar with the proposed at-grade crossing at Western and Exposition?
A: Yes.
Q: Do you have concerns about students using that crossing when the tunnel at
A: Yes, I do.
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Q: What are your concerns?
A: I am very concerned that there will be no pedestrian or automobile gates at that crossing.
I am particularly concerned about the lack of pedestrian gates. My students would obey the
gates, but the warning signs will not be adequate to demonstrate to students that a train is
approaching. This is particularly true with students who are not English speakers or for our
special education students. I am also concerned that there will not be fences to keep students off
Expo staff told me that trains would slow when approaching intersections and the station,
but on the tour I took of the Gold Line, I observed four trains arriving at the station near Arroyo
Seco school, and only one of the trains approached slowly. The other trains stopped abruptly
when reaching the station. Expo explained to me that it is the driver’s discretion how soon to
slow down when the train is to come to a stop. I am concerned that trains will race through the
intersection at Western.
A: A pedestrian overcrossing could be open 24 hours a day without the need for additional
supervision at all times. Supervision would be required during peak usage at arrival and
dismissal, but the overcrossing could remain open at other times of day without creating an
undue safety risk. As long as the overcrossing were fenced on all sides, including the top, I
believe it would be safe for those who come to our campus even when it could not be supervised.
Q: Would an overcrossing reduce student use of the nearby intersections like Western
and Denker?
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A: In my opinion it would, because it is located very conveniently to the campus. When
students need to come or go from the campus when the tunnel is not open, they are forced to go
to Western or Denker, which means additional walking. With an overpass, these students could
cross at Harvard. Although students would likely continue to use the other intersections, an
overpass would draw students away from these intersections. We would instruct students that
Q: Have any parents expressed concerns to you about the proposed crossings near
A: Yes, I have spoken with numerous parents about their concerns. Many concerned parents
A: Yes, it does.
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