It was close but, the Los Angeles Unified school board approved the construction of a new, 650-seat elementary school in Playa Vista.  Local residents, some with their kids in tow, and people from neighboring communities attended the City Hall meeting to speak and hear the final vote.  The children of the school will have access to the adjacent seven acre sport's park and approved Discovery Center whose emphasis will be on the ecology and history of the area including Native Americans, Howard Hughs, and plant and animal life of the Ballona Wetlands.  A block away is the recently built Playa Vista Library.  The new school will also have a specialized math/science curriculum and Loyola Marymount University will  offer teacher training for their education students.   As the first LAUSD project ever given accreditation from the U.S. Green Building Council, it is on target for an LEED Gold certification.  Construction will begin late in 2009 and students are expected to be admitted September of 2012.