To: Anaheim City Council
From: Susan and Dennis Sorenson
Subject: September 12, 2023 Council Meeting on the Scholarship Prep Project DE221-00218 We are 22 yr residents in the subdivision directly West of the proposed school and are writing to urge the Council members to vote to approve the Scholarship Prep School.
Our reasons follow .
First, adding a charter school with Scholarship Prep's successful record will bring s~hool choice to our community. Regardless of political party, school choice is an outstanding _added value for parents, and children, that is not currently available in our immediate community.
Second, our experience with communication from school representatives over the past _year has been outstanding. In addition to the required community meetings, they have consistently followed up on our questions and concerns with prompt responses, a willingness to listen, as well as an openness to problem solve solutions . They have demonstrated their commitment to being a good neighbor.
Third, the extensive work by the Planning Department in working with the school to mitigate the unanimous community concern regarding potential traffic congestion and safety issues.
During the Planning Commission Review, the City Traffic Engineer, Rafael Covina spoke of the unique and rewarding opportunity Scholarship Prep offered. He was able to proactively address and mitigate the traffic issues based on his extensive experience providing traffic solutions to established schools. Since the planning was based on projections, Mr Covina wisely built in a back up plan to keep the school accountable. Should problems arise, the City will be able to review and require additional mitigation as needed. The school has also put a detailed protocol in place that is made possible with the high level of parent involvement and communication. These include:
Mandatory parent training on pickup and drop off procedures Staggered drop off and pickup times
Right turn only when exiting the school property
Monitors_ a~ Marjan to enforce No parent pickup or drop off, U turn, or parking Staff assisting students and traffic flow,
To conclude. This property is ~urr~n~ly z~ned for a school. Scholarship Prep's Santa Ana Charter was named a Cahforrna D1stmgu1shed school and their successful program would add a yatuable ~duca~ional resource to Anah~im. Over the_ past year Scholarship Prep has met the C~ regulation~, hsten~d to the community, worked dthgently with the City traffic engineers to m1tig~te potential traffic problems, and developed an extensive protocol. We believe this is a working ~xample of succes~fully balancing the interests and concerns of the project own ers coScmmuntty members~ and city planners. It is time to move forward with a YES vote on the ' holarsh,p Prep proJect.