Christa McAuliffe Early Education Center (EEC) Outdoor Classroom

2026050992

Los Angeles Unified School District

NOE - Notice of Exemption

5/26/2026

5/26/2026

Bryan Ramos Fernandez

Los Angeles Unified School District

CEQA Project Manager

Lead/Public Agency

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

(213) 241-4210

cp-bryan.fernandez@lausd.net

The Christa McAuliffe Early Education Center Outdoor Classroom (Project) is located at 8914 Hunt Avenue in the City of South Gate. It is bound by Firestone Boulevard to the north, Kaufman Avenue to the east, Dorothy Avenue to the south, and Hunt Avenue to the west. The Project will occur on the approximately 0.32-acre portion of the Aspire Firestone Academy Charter school that contains the Christa McAuliffe Early Education Center (McAuliffe EEC or Campus). The Campus is located in an urbanized community primarily consisting of residential, commercial, and industrial uses.

Categorical Exemption

15301, 15304

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 construct an outdoor classroom covering approximately 13,800 square feet by dividing the existing playground area into distinct activity areas. The scope of work includes replacing playground matting and installing various site furnishings; installing new trees, planting area with mulch, resodding grass area, and irrigation upgrades; and providing approximately 5,700 square feet of new solar reflective coating over existing asphalt. All Project components will involve minor alterations and will occur within areas occupied by existing facilities at the Project site. The Project components will not present a new or expanded use of the Project site. Therefore, the Project fulfills the requirements of CEQA Guidelines Section 15301. Section 15304 — Minor Alterations to Land Class 4 consists of minor public or private alterations in the condition of land, water, and/or vegetation which do not involve the removal of healthy, mature, scenic trees except for forestry and agricultural purposes. The Project will construct an outdoor classroom covering approximately 13,800 square feet by dividing the existing playground area into distinct activity areas. The scope of work includes replacing playground matting and installing various site furnishings; installing new trees, planting area with mulch, resodding grass area, and irrigation upgrades; and providing approximately 5,700 square feet of new solar reflective coating over existing asphalt. The removal of trees is not anticipated as part of the proposed scope of work. Therefore, the Project fulfills the requirements of CEQA Guidelines Section 15304. 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 projects would occur in certain specified sensitive environments or locations; The Project site is a fully developed Campus within an urbanized area of South Gate and is primarily surrounded by residential, industrial, and commercial uses. The Project site is not designated as a biologically sensitive location. The nearest significant ecological area (SEA) is the Puente Hills SEA located approximately seven miles east of the Project site. The nearest threatened or endangered species is the California coastal gnatcatcher located approximately seven miles east of the Project site at Puente Hills. As such, the Project will not affect 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 Project to keep them operational. There are currently no known successive projects of the same type or scale planned for the Campus. As the Project would not result in any lasting impacts once construction of the Project is complete, the Project would not contribute to cumulative impacts when considered with expected successive projects. Therefore, no cumulative impacts will result from the Project and successive projects of the same type and at the same place over time. 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 upgrades associated with the Project are comparable to other modernizations and improvements that are being completed throughout the District under the School Upgrade Program. The removal of trees is not anticipated as part of the proposed scope of work. However, should the Project be altered to include the removal of trees, LA Unified’s Office of Environmental Health & Safety (OEHS) must be notified immediately. 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 (SC) of approval SC-BIO-3 of the Standard Conditions of Approval for District Construction, Upgrade, and Improvements Projects. The Project will include minor ground-disturbing activities. These activities are not considered unusual circumstances for the classes of projects under which an exemption is claimed. All Project related ground disturbing activities would comply with SC-AQ-1, SC-AQ-2, SC-AQ-3, and SCAQ-4. Since the Project involves the removal of pavement, soil sampling and testing has or will be conducted and a determination memorandum will be created for the Campus prior to demolition and removal of the paving materials. If justified by the determination memorandum, excavated soils would only be reused onsite if they are placed beneath paved areas. 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-7, SC-CUL-9, SC-CUL-10, and SC-CUL-11 of the Standard Conditions of Approval for District Construction, Upgrade, and Improvements Projects, and in District protocols, 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. 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 is the Angeles Crest Scenic Highway, a 55.1-mile portion of State Route 2 (SR-2) which is located approximately 18.7 miles north of McAuliffe EEC.” Therefore, the Project will not result in damage to scenic resources or similar resources within a highway officially designated as a state 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 site is not located 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 historic resource. The Campus opened in 2010 and thus ineligible to be considered as historic resource under CEQA due to its age. Therefore, the Project will not cause substantial adverse changes in the significance of a historic resource.