Leo Politi Elementary School Classroom Replacement Project

2026050790

Los Angeles Unified School District

NOE - Notice of Exemption

5/20/2026

5/20/2026

Christy Wong

Los Angeles Unified School District

CEQA Project Manager

Lead/Public Agency

333 S Beaudry Ave, 21st Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90017

(213) 241-3394

cp-christy.wong@lausd.net

Leo Politi Elementary School

The Leo Politi Elementary School Classroom Replacement Project (Project) will be located on the approximately 6.3-acre Leo Politi Elementary School campus (Politi ES or Campus). The Campus is located at 2481 West 11th Street in the Pico-Union Neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles. It is bound by West Olympic Boulevard to the north, Arapahoe Street to the east, West 11th Street to the south, and Eden Avenue to the west. The Campus is located in an urbanized community primarily consisting of commercial uses, multi-family, and single-family residences. The Project will occur across Campus.

Categorical Exemption

15301, 15302, 15303, 15314

Section 15301 - Existing Facilities Class 1 consists of the operation, repair, maintenance, permitting, leasing, licensing, or minor alteration of existing public or private structures, facilities, mechanical equipment, or topographical features, involving negligible or no expansion of use beyond that existing at the time of the lead agency's determination. The Project will remove aging relocatable buildings at Politi ES, which includes a total of 8 relocatable buildings, containing 16 classrooms and support spaces. The Project will construct a new one-story classroom building consisting of 12 classrooms and support and administrative spaces. Site improvements include new parking, utility upgrades, new playground areas, outdoor learning environments, landscaping, hardscaping, fencing and gates, security enhancements, and accessibility upgrades; exterior painting of existing buildings and structures; and interim facilities necessary to support school programs during construction. The Project would constitute operation, repair, maintenance, and minor alteration of existing public structures involving no expansion of the facilities’ use. Therefore, the Project constitutes minor alterations to an existing school site that result in no expansion of use and meets the requirements of CEQA Guidelines Section 15301. Section 15302 - Replacement or Reconstruction Class 2 consists of replacing or reconstructing existing structures and facilities where the new structure will be located on the same site as the structure replaced and will have substantially the same purpose and capacity as the structure replaced. As previously noted, the Project will remove aging relocatable buildings at Politi ES, which includes a total of 8 relocatable buildings, containing 16 classrooms and support spaces. The Project will construct a new one-story classroom building consisting of 12 classrooms and support and administrative spaces. Site improvements include new parking, utility upgrades, new playground areas, outdoor learning environments, landscaping, hardscaping, fencing and gates, security enhancements, and accessibility upgrades; exterior painting of existing buildings and structures; and interim facilities necessary to support school programs during construction. The Project will not result in an increase or alteration of the current use, function, or capacity of the existing Campus. Therefore, the Project meets the requirements of CEQA Guidelines Section 15302. Section 15303 - New Construction or Conversion of Small Structures Class 3 consists of construction and location of limited numbers of new, small facilities or structures; installation of small new equipment and facilities in small structures; and the conversion of existing small structures from one use to another where only minor modifications are made to the structure. The Project consists of site improvements including new parking, utility upgrades, new playground areas, outdoor learning environments, landscaping, hardscaping, fencing and gates, security enhancements, and accessibility upgrades; exterior painting of existing buildings and structures; and interim facilities necessary to support school programs during construction. These improvements constitute operation, repair, maintenance and minor alteration of an existing campus involving no expansion in enrollment or of the facilities’ use. Therefore, the Project satisfies the requirements of CEQA Guidelines Section 15303. Section 15314 – Minor Additions to Schools Class 14 consists of minor additions to existing schools within existing school grounds where the addition does not increase original student capacity by more than 25% or ten classrooms, whichever is less. The addition of portable classrooms is included in this exemption. The Project entails the removal of 8 existing relocatable buildings containing 16 classrooms and the construction of a new one-story classroom building consisting of 12 classrooms on an existing campus. The Project will not increase the original student capacity by more than 25% or ten classrooms. Therefore, the Project satisfies the requirements of CEQA Guidelines Section 15314. Section 15300.2 – Exceptions Section 15300.2 of the CEQA Guidelines, Exceptions, provides conditions under which categorical exemptions are inapplicable. Review of the Project indicates that they would not violate any of the exceptions, as described below. 1. The project would occur in certain specified sensitive environments or locations; The Project will occur on an existing campus that is located within an urban setting. The surrounding uses are residential and commercial. The Campus has not been designated as a biologically sensitive site or location and does not contain sensitive resources or habitat that will be impacted by the Project. The nearest significant ecological area (SEA) is Griffith Park which is located approximately 4.6 miles north of the Campus. The nearest critical habitat is designated as such for the coastal California gnatcatcher and is located approximately 10.8 miles east of the site. As such, the Project will not impact sensitive environments or locations. 2. Cumulative impacts would be considerable because successive projects of the same type would occur at the same place over time; The Campus is an active school site and there will likely be ongoing maintenance activities and minor projects on the Campus to keep the schools operational. As the Project will not result in any lasting adverse impacts once construction of the Project is complete, the Project would not contribute to cumulative impacts when considered with expected successive projects. 3. There is a reasonable possibility that the activity would have a significant effect on the environment due to unusual circumstances. There are no known unusual circumstances that would have a significant effect on the environment. The removal of trees is anticipated as part of the proposed scope of work. District policy requires consultation with an arborist to determine if the trees are a protected native species. Additionally, written approval from the school principal will be required before any trees can be removed. If tree removal is scheduled to occur between February 1 and August 31, a nesting bird survey would be performed prior to removal activities, per Standard Condition of Approval (SC) SC-BIO-3 of the Subsequent Program Environmental Impact Report (SPEIR). , The Project may include minor ground-disturbing activities. These activities are not considered unusual circumstances for the classes of projects under which an exemption is claimed. Nevertheless, consideration must be given to the management of pavement removal and excavated soils associated with earthwork activities for the Project. As the Project involves the removal of pavement, soil sampling and testing for characterization is required prior to demolition and removal of the paving materials. If construction or earthmoving activities require import or export of soils and materials, OEHS must be notified to provide oversight to ensure that these activities are conducted in compliance with the requirements of District Specification 01 4524, relevant provisions of South Coast Air Quality Management District Rule 1466, and other applicable environmental agency rules and requirements. Furthermore, as set forth in SC-CUL-6, SC-CUL-7, SC-CUL-9, SC-CUL-10, and SC-GEO-2 of the SPEIR, construction activities must be stopped immediately and OEHS notified upon discovery of subsurface features, such as buried resources (i.e., paleontological resources, archaeological resources), tanks or seepage pits, or stained/odoriferous soils. Lastly, any construction and demolition waste shall be recycled to the maximum extent feasible per SC-USS-1 of the Program EIR. Therefore, the Project will not have a significant effect on the environment due to unusual circumstances. 4. The project may result in damage to scenic resources, including but not limited to trees, historic buildings, rock outcroppings, or similar resources within a highway officially designated as a state scenic highway; The closest designated state scenic highway to the Project site is State Route 27 (SR 27, Topanga Canyon Boulevard), which is located approximately 16.8 miles west of Politi ES. The Project will not be visible from SR 27. Therefore, the Project will not result in damage to scenic resources or similar resources within a highway that is officially designated as a scenic highway. 5. The project is located on a site which is included on any list compiled pursuant to Section 65962.5 of the Government Code; or The Project is not located on a site included on any list compiled pursuant to Section 65962.5 of the Government Code. Therefore, the Project will have no impacts related to being located on a hazardous waste site. 6. The project may cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of a historical resource. Built in 1991, Politi ES is under 45 years old and does not meet the State of California’s threshold for review as a potential historic resource and evaluation for historic eligibility. Therefore, the Project will not cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of a historic resource.