Traffic around schools is nothing new as cars pile up while dozens of parents drop off or pick up their children from school. However, the traffic seen around the Balboa Boulevard and Vanowen Street intersection next to our school is especially concerning to us. The traffic here not only endangers the safety of students but also adds further stress to student drivers, pedestrians and parents. 

On April 25 of this year, a woman was killed and her child critically injured while on their way to Hancock Park Elementary School, a school in Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). We worry that a similar incident may occur here next to the education complex that includes Daniel Pearl Magnet High School (DPMHS), Lake Balboa College Preparatory Magnet K-12, Birmingham Community Charter High School, High Tech Los Angeles, Mulholland Middle School, Independence High School and Magnolia Science Academy. 

Among the nearly 6,000 students who attend school at this complex are student drivers and teen pedestrians who often walk to nearby fast food chains such as McDonald’s and Jack in the Box. Students and staff have experienced near-miss collisions while crossing the street or driving due to the irresponsibility of drivers in the area. Many drivers violate school zone speed limits and others do not look both ways before turning. Some drivers feel entitled enough to drive onto the crosswalk, forcing students further out into roads and unnecessarily putting their lives at risk just to cross the street.  

Additionally, drivers who are speeding down the parallel two-way service road next to the school parking lot entrance can potentially ram right into the cars of parents dropping off or picking up their children. The slow line of vehicles at that entrance also creates a traffic plug, increasing the risk of a collision. 

This problem has been plaguing this LAUSD complex for years. In February 2020, a solution was approved to lessen the danger of morning and afternoon traffic. The approved plan would have let DPMHS change its two-gate chain-link fence to a new front entrance with a rolling door and gate. However, this plan has seemingly all but vanished following the COVID-19 lockdown, with no construction in sight three years since the plan was approved. 

This inaction is endangering student lives every day. It is necessary that DPMHS requests and pressures LAUSD officials to carry out the school’s 2020 plan for a revamped school entrance to improve the driveways into and out of the school. The flow of traffic must be mitigated to ensure and prioritize school safety and consideration of pedestrians and students.