Shots fired near ICEF on Stoner ES

The scene on Lindblade this morning.

    There has been a recent uptick in gang activity around the ICEF Vista Elementary Academy Charter School side of the Stoner Elementary School campus.

     This morning, a little after 6 AM, neighbors were jarred awake by an estimated dozen high powered shots fired in to a house on Lindblade Street behind the school.

    The shots were fired by two people dressed in all black who calmly walked away to a waiting car that cruised off slowly.

Gang tagging near ICEF Vista Entrance

  Two fire department vehicles and six LAPD cars came to the scene. Police were searching the street with their flashlights looking for shell casings. One man was taken to the hospital with multiple gun shot wounds.

    Neighbors were shaken by the callousness of the shooting and described a recent increase in gang activity in the neighborhood since the time the charter moved in.

      One neighbor reported a brazen tagging incident that occurred a few weeks back in the middle of the day on a wall catty corner to the ICEF Vista entrance. The neighbor said around 2 PM he saw a group of about 6 young adults on bikes standing guard and holding and extra bike while one person tagged.  The neighbor shared the picture to the left of the tagging.
   During the last co-location there was also an increase in gang activity that led up to an ugly profanity filled tagging incident against the co-located charter school.
   I hope things clam down soon. We all want a safe environment to live and for our children to grow up and go to school.

Gang tag graffiti across the street from
ICEF Vista entrance one week before the shooting

[special snark edition] CWC does not take safety concerns seriously. How can we take them seriously?

[Advisory] Generally, I take the situation caused by the CWC co-location very seriously. However, I'm well aware of the absurdity and comedy of the situation. Stoners vs Citizens, a mainly minority school vs a mostly white school, poor working vs well off...sometimes it sounds like a bad joke and you just have to laugh. And so today, I'm presenting a extra special snarky edition of the blog.Yes, there will be rudeness. Yes, there will be mockery and condescension in today's post, but today is a chance to step back and laugh at the comedy of errors that is this co-location. Please, be advised.
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Considering the graffiti this month and that my family was almost run over by a CWC parent, I wanted to see what CWC was telling their community about the gang and traffic safety issues. I made a California Public Records Act request and was , frankly, not surprised to see that CWC was minimizing the gang problems and placing blame for traffic/safety problems on  "A neighbor" and not on the actual unsafe driving by the CWC community, but we'll get to all that in a second.

   This letter was sent out to the CWC community by the CWC Executive Director on April 8, 2014. A JPG of the document is below if you'd like to see the original released document. Here on the blog, we are going to go through this document line by line and adding some annotations in red.
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Hi all,

Hope you are doing well! Writing with a quick update about the graffiti on the fence banner and with some traffic safety reminders. (I hate to start off being picky, but this is a fragment sentence and this communication is very informal. Is this really an official communication from a professional educator?) Wanted to let you all know that, thanks to amazing parent volunteers, we're painting over the graffiti right now. I know it's troubling to see. We reached out to LAPD and they came by this morning (What took CWC so long? We contacted LAPD on 4/7 in the morning. In the evening on 4/7, LAPD told us CWC had not yet returned their calls and were not available when they went by campus twice that day.) and said they'd be having additional evening patrols to try and deter this in the future (When I spoke with LAPD, they strongly recommended removing the fence covering. Why no mention of that option, considering it is the option CWC ultimately chose?). We have seen this at other locations and LAPD definitely mentioned there's tagging in the neighborhood generally. (Yes, there is definitely tagging in the neighborhood, but in my four decades in the area, I've never seen a direct "F--- You!!!" written in a tag. The graffiti does not look like your general run-of the mill tagging. This was definitely a message to the people behind the fence. I would not take this message as a general message.) We will be looking at other measures we can take from installing cameras to moving the banner to the interior of the fence (Really? Why because spray paint won't go through a chain link fence?). More to come on all of that.

In other news, wanted to let you know that in addition to Alison and Jim (Principal of Stoner) (This took me aback. "Jim?" Again, is this really an official communication from an education professional? Or maybe "Jim" is just cool with all the CWC community like that...)  meeting regularly, the liaison groups established with Stoner (small groups of teachers and parents from both schools) are meeting and collaborating as well (except that the CWC parents have cancelled the last two meetings and the group has not meet in close to two month, which is very upsetting since there are serious safety issues that need to be addressed. See: link). We're also working closely with the neighborhood council and their education committee that created an ad hoc committee specifically devoted to resolving the co-location/ community tension (The local community is boycotting the ad hoc meetings since the DRNC is not representing its concerns on this issue.).

I also wanted to remind everyone to please drive safely at all times around the school. A neighbor is repeatedly photographing and taking videos (Yes, that's the problem "A neighbor" is taking photos & video, not the actually unsafe driving by the CWC community. Also, I wonder how they concluded it is only "a neighbor" since many neighbors are upset and are taking pictures and video. As a community, we are only starting to get organized about collecting this evidence. Also, why is CWC placing the blame on one person and thus making them a target? We have seen the CWC community make targets out of our community members before. Instead of dealing with issue, they blame the people who bring attention to the problems.) of cars running stop signs, backing up into intersections, blocking driveways, parking in red zones or in front of hydrants (It's sad that she doesn't even mention the incident that sparked this reminder, that my family was almost run over in a crosswalk by a CWC parent driving backwards down the street) . Mornings in particular are harried times, please take care to drive extra safely especially when running late. While we definitely aim to start on time, it's better for folks to be tardy than to risk an accident (and run over a whole family). Thanks for your help with this. 

Thank you, as always, for your patience and steadfast support in the face of what is

definitely a frustrating situation. We do know from other charters that they have

faced this too and in time it has passed (It's upsetting to see how the CWC administration minimizes the problem and says that it is a passing thing.  The local community and Stoner ES community are not a passing things.  This is where we live and we aren't going anywhere.) Definitely come grab me in the office or shoot me an email if you have any questions or specifics you want to connect about.

CWC fence covering removed

Today our neighborhood looks more open, inviting, and welcoming, all because the CWC fence covering has been removed.  We hope this is permanent change.

    Just like many of the other issues with the co-location of CWC on the Stoner ES campus, what is a source of pride for CWC, is a sore point for everyone else. To CWC, the fence covering gave a "A feeling of cocoon-like safety by being surrounded by a beautiful and private fence." and was "Helping the space to feel 'kinder and gentler...'" To the Stoner and local community the covering represented separation and segregation, entitlement and elitism, and a lack of respect for the local community.

    The fence covering has been a sore point since it was first put up. One day, the neighborhood was an open and inviting place, then without warning, there was separation and the claim that fence covering was for a "true community."

     The fence covering was one of the most blatant examples of the segregation that CWC is bringing to the Stoner ES campus. The separation and inequality was even written directly on the fence covering: "A true community of learners." This phrase was written in two places on the fence covering.  Could they not realize how insulting this message would be to the home school and surrounding community? "A true community" What does that say to the people in the community who live in the area? Are we not a real community?  Was CWC even aware that the Stoner motto is "a learning community?" If CWC is a "true" community and "true" learners, what does that say to the Stoner students? Are they a false community? Are they untrue learners?
     Everyday local residents and Stoner students had to pass by this backhanded insult to our community and school. Residents and Stoner parents complained about the fence covering, but their pleas fell on deaf ears and so resentment in community began to simmer.

    On Friday March 7, a red "CxC" appeared on the fence covering over the CWC logo. The tag was quickly covered over in white, but was still visible.

The following Monday, March 10, two new CxC tags showed up.

 Then on April 6 the fence covering tagged all over. This time with a stronger profanity filled message.

    Since the fence covering is now attracting gang activity, local residents and Stoner parents have urged CWC to remove the fence covering.

    The covering is down now. For the safety of the neighborhood and school, let's hope the covering stays down.

Stoner/Cwc parent liaison meeting cancelled

Today's parent liaison meeting was cancelled and will be rescheduled for after Spring break.
    This is a rather disappointing turn of events. There are pressing issues to discuss, most importantly safety.
   With the latest graffiti incident,  it should be a priority to get both schools parents together as soon as possible to discuss safety for the entire campus.
   Plus, we still have a safety problem on campus of CWC parents entering the students only bathroom. The signs have been changed three times, getting bigger each time, and still the message is not getting through.
     Also, we have the issue of traffic and pedestrian safety on the streets around the Cwc entrance.
     Oh, and there is also....I guess we'll have to wait another two weeks.

More gang activity at Citizens of the World Charter

This is getting ridiculous.  Over the weekend, CWC's fence covering was tagged up really badly. 

While we here at this blog do not condon this behavior, it is not surprising given the neighborhood and the on going problems with this charter co-location.
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There is an old folks tale in the neighborhood; a legend, really. When the land was filled with chaos, and lawlessness abound,  only the lawless were able to bring order and safety to this land.

During the 1992 LA Riots, the city was in chaos.  Police and firefighter were busy stopping looting and fires all over the city.
As the legend goes, a group of Culver City gang members met and decided they were not going to let their neighborhood be looted and burned to the ground. Their top priorities were the Johnston's Market (now Northgate) and Stoner Elementary because that's where their moms shop and that's where their families go to school. 

Like some kind of scene out of a movie, groups of cholos lined their cars up in the Stoner and Top Value parking lots with their headlights on facing out to the street and stood guard.
...and so, in our city's darkest hour, CxC became the unlikely protectors of the neighborhood; These hommies turned heros, these gangstas turned guardians, these sinners acting as saints; they kept order and protected the neighborhood's most valuable assets. While the rest of the city burned, no harm reached our sleepy corner of LA.

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   Now, there is a new threat to the neighborhood. Our children are not safe at school and are facing segregated conditions. The streets are dangerous. There have been complaints filed, letters written, and protests held asking for relief from these unjust conditions, and yet the authorities do nothing.

   When the law refuses to act...

[Follow up] Deasy visits Stoner (...or what protest?)

I always wonder who reads this blog: there is a person from CWC/CxC, and "3angry" people, but that doesn't account for all the other hits this blog gets.
   The reason I'm curious, is that yesterday for Deasy's visit police cars showed up because the police were told there was going to be protest. Also, an unidentified man walked into the Stoner ES main office in the morning and asked where the protest was.
    This is too funny, because the only place Deasy's visit was announced beforehand was here on this blog. I can only image which concerned CITIZENS are readers of this blog and took it upon themselves to speculate, in fear of the local community and home school, that there would be a protest and call the cops.
     I didn't realize that one of my blog post could create such a stir.
     The real news yesterday, was LAUSD launching the new Smart Balanced computerized test program at Stoner Elementary. More on that in bit.