Collective action this month by King/Drew Magnet High School teachers led to LAUSD finally starting to address urgent issues on campus. 

Teachers united behind the effort after safety and cleanliness problems accelerated this school year. Workers fixing the roof broke the HVAC system; classrooms got as warm as 90 degrees on hot days and as cold as 50 degrees on winter days. There were general issues with cleanliness and wild animal control, and the school had not had a plant manager in some time. Then a series of incidents disrupted the campus: PE classes were displaced when the gym flooded, science teachers were displaced when bats invaded their classrooms, and a leaky roof forced parents to relocate from the Parent Center.  

“It was getting out of hand,” Chapter Chair Maricela Lopez says. “I was a student here, and the school wasn’t falling apart then. I know what it’s like to walk these halls and not see rodent droppings and holes patched with plastic bags.” 

People had been taking steps individually — filing complaints with Cal OSHA about temperature violations and reporting concerns to administration —  but fixes were not coming. It was time to speak with a collective voice. 

UTLA members talked about their concerns and put together a letter demanding urgent action. Over multiple meetings and work by the Chapter Action Team (CAT), 51 teachers signed off on the letter. 

 “Our school is in South Central,” Lopez says. “There’s a racial and class dynamic at play that can discourage people from speaking up. But you have to say no to that dynamic — our school deserves just as much attention as any school.”  

The letter was sent March 4 to school board member Tanya Franklin-Ortiz, local superintendent Andre Spicer, and various LAUSD operations and maintenance department heads. Teachers asked for a response within a week, but it didn’t take that long to get attention.  

A cleaning crew came within days to wash walls and power clean the steps. A new energy management system is coming in two to three months. The hiring process has begun to bring a plant manager on campus. Animal control has been on site to figure out a strategy to deal with the rodent and pest situation, and science teachers are back in their classroom after being displaced for three months. The teachers are keeping a list of promises around safety and cleanliness and will hold the district accountable to fulfilling them. 

“This is a multi-generational win for our staff, involving teachers like me who were students here and educators who have been teaching here for decades,” Lopez says. “It’s a win for all of us to see the possibility of a clean and safe school.”