Karen Wolfe, parent of a student at Venice High School and an elected member of School Based Management Council, wrote Venice Update about steps being taken by concerned citizens. An initial meeting will be held today (25 March)vbat 6 pm at the Venice Public Library, 501 Venice Way, Venice, CA 90291.

“Just wanted to keep Venice Update in the loop about how we at Venice High School are moving forward following the recent arrests of students,” Karen Wolfe wrote.

“The details are unknown to most of us and will remain so, as the accused are juveniles. However, a group of parents and teachers is beginning to engage in productive discussions with the goal of arriving at recommendations for the school and for the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). Venice High has been neglected and, although no one would wish this crisis upon a community, it may provide an opportunity for an allocation of resources that has been needed for some time. We see that there is a need to include the larger Venice community in these discussions and to have them take place outside the purview of the school district, which understandably may be primarily concerned with liability. In other words, we truly want to improve our school and prevent something like this from every happening again.

“We are meeting at the Venice Public Library this Wednesday at 6:00pm. I have a meeting this evening with an LA County Commissioner on Human Relations to seek his guidance and hopefully a facilitator. It is conceivable that a series of discussions will take place, and perhaps programs to educate the public about issues that might have played a part in these alleged incidents, and could prevent them from occurring again. We welcome any concerned community members to participate.”

Karen Wolfe has offered her email for anyone interested in attending meetings or wanting to provide input. Contact info will be given via Venice Update when requested.