NICK'S VIEW - We are appalled that the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is demolishing closed schools in the West San Fernando Valley, according to LA School Report, leaving valuable public land as vacant eyesores instead of returning it to meaningful public use. This is a deliberate failure of public policy.
More directly, it is blight by design. Let’s be honest: the school district is mismanaging public property and undermining public trust.
Common sense tells us that empty schools can be repurposed to enhance neighborhoods as is being done in other areas, to create parks, housing, childcare, senior centers and community hubs—even affordable studios and artist housing. Underused schools can become centers of creativity, dreams, and renewed possibilities.
Tearing down empty schools destroys community assets and exposes a governance system unable to coordinate strategic reuse. Demolishing underused public schools shows the district is not acting in the community’s interest: it has the land, the need is clear, and it refuses to deliver public benefits.
Considering that the demolition money has to come out of general funds and not bond funds, it is another example of the LAUSD Board`s dereliction of their fiduciary responsibilities leading to possible receivership.
Without question this is institutional Incompetence, a fundamental failure in leadership and management capability. And it goes beyond the short-sighted school district. There are local elected officials who allow this to happen.
Los Angeles City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, whose district includes much of the West San Fernando Valley, has remained silent. While school demolition is not a City Council decision, that silence, inaction, and lack of coordination have contributed to the problem.
As chair of the Budget & Finance Committee when the city identified a $1 billion shortfall, Blumenfield had significant influence over fiscal priorities and neighborhood investment. It is astonishing that when he was asked what he thought of the staggering $1 billion deficit, he answered "I`m shocked"! He will be termed out in December 2026, leaving behind a legacy of silently supporting neighborhood blight.
Councilmember John Lee represents part of the area affected by school demolitions, particularly in the Northwest Valley. Frankly, there is no public record of him opposing, questioning, or intervening in LAUSD’s demolition of vacant schools. Yet a city councilmember’s role is to protect the interests of his district. Silence does not serve constituents; it compounds the failure of good governance.
Even without formal authority over LAUSD, elected city officials still bear political, moral, and community responsibility.
The LAUSD Board is derelict in its duties by allowing closed schools to be demolished instead of reused. Dereliction comes from failing to act in the best interest of students, families, and communities. It has a legal duty to be steward of public educational assets.
Demolishing schools without a reuse plan breaches the school board’s core responsibilities: managing facilities, preserving public assets, planning for long-term educational needs, serving the community, and maximizing the value of taxpayer-funded land.
Instead of squandering assets—we have said many times that while the declining enrollment has left many schools underused—converting these vital assets into community resources must be undertaken. To do so, it requires coordinated action. In Los Angeles, both the city and the school district need bold leadership, but that demands a level of coordination and political courage neither has yet shown.
Schools unquestionably serve as neighborhood anchors, but that role fades when students leave. Their value comes not from the buildings alone, but from the daily activity they bring to the community. The solution is clear: turn closed schools into places that once again generate neighborhood life.
Why is that so difficult for the school district to comprehend?
Demolition eliminates many wonderful possibilities. Everyone, with the obvious exception of the LAUSD Board, understands that a closed school can be a park, a childcare center, a senior center, a community hub, a cultural space, a youth sports facility, a workforce development center, affordable housing, emergency shelter, a small business incubator, an artist studio.
Demolition over reuse is more than shortsighted, it causes real harm. And the school board is ignoring demographic reality. While LAUSD has lost 330,000 students in 25 years, it has not created a reuse strategy or partnered with the city to preserve buildings for future use. It has not planned for long-term demographic shifts since an underused school today could mean a needed facility tomorrow. Officials predict that enrollment will continue to drop by another twenty-eight percent by the 2030-31 academic year.
Most public-school campuses were originally purchased or modernized using state and local education bonds. Converting school property into a public park or affordable housing requires navigating rigid statutory requirements, environmental reviews, inter-governmental agreements, and liability/maintenance funding between different agency budgets.
A joint City–LAUSD reuse strategy would be difficult, but that difficulty makes active negotiation, formal agreements, and shared governance essential. Los Angeles is failing not because reuse is impossible, but because its leaders have not done the hard work needed to make it real.
Effective governance means more than balancing budgets or handling paperwork; it requires leaders with vision, courage, and the will to act boldly for the community’s long-term benefit.
School demolitions have brought Los Angeles to a critical crossroads. The choice between revitalization and blight now depends on whether leaders act with courage and vision or continue their silence and inaction.
Thus far we have witnessed silence and inaction, thus leading to a dereliction of civic stewardship.
(Nick Patsaouras is an electrical engineer, civic leader, and a longtime public advocate. He ran for Mayor in 1993 with a focus on rebuilding L.A. through transportation after the 1992 civil unrest. He has served on major public boards, including the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Metro, and the Board of Zoning Appeals, helping guide infrastructure and planning policy in Los Angeles. He is the author of the book "The Making of Modern Los Angeles.")
