64 Schools Elect to Go Year-Round by Summer

By SANDY BANKS

April 24, 1990 12 AM PT

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TIMES EDUCATION WRITER

Sixty-four schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District plan to switch to multi-track, year-round operation beginning this summer, and almost 40 more expect to move portable classrooms onto their playgrounds this fall to help relieve overcrowding in the district.

Most of the schools are among 109 ordered by the school board in February to increase their capacity by 23% this year to accommodate exploding enrollment growth. The school plan was submitted to board members Monday and a vote is expected next week.

The district already has 102 schools operating on multi-track year-round schedules, which allow a campus to accommodate up to one-third more pupils by dividing the student body into several groups that attend school on staggered schedules, with one group on vacation at all times.

Still, schools in some areas are so crowded they are forced to send children to less crowded campuses up to an hour away. A record 25,000 students are being bused away from their neighborhood schools this year because of overcrowding.

The plans will create more than 20,000 classroom seats throughout the district this fall, allowing about 5,000 of the 17,500 elementary school students now being bused to return to their home campuses.

But it is not clear whether the additional space will give the district much breathing room. More than 10,000 new elementary students are expected to enroll next fall, and similar increases are expected for the following few years.

“Whether we’re standing still or making progress has yet to be determined,” said Roberta Weintraub, who represents the East San Fernando Valley, which will have a large proportion of the year-round schools.

Over the next three years, the remainder of the district’s 600 schools will have to find ways to increase space for students by 23%. Parents and staff at each school will be allowed to vote to select from among four options to create the needed space.

The options include adding bungalow classrooms, putting two more children in each classroom, going multi-track year-round, or cooperating with nearby schools to transfer entire grade levels there. For instance, an elementary school could send sixth-graders to a neighboring junior high if space permits.

Because of restrictions on the number of portable classrooms a school may use, many schools will have no choice but to go multi-track year-round--as was the case with 61 of the 64 schools opting for year-round this year.

It will cost the district almost $500,000 to finance conversion of the 64 schools to year-round, not including additional operating and maintenance costs.

The money will pay for such things as additional teacher and clerical time to organize students and teachers into separate groups or “tracks,” and storage cabinets to hold materials for “roving” teachers who will have to change classrooms every few months.

The district also will spend $12.2 million to purchase and install 123 portable classrooms at schools selecting that option, and about $45,000 to convert office space to classrooms at other schools.

But district officials estimate they will save $7 million in transportation costs if 5,000 fewer students are bused next year.

In the past, multi-track year-round schools in the district have received up to $150 additionally per student from the state as part of an incentive program to encourage districts to go year-round.

But Gov. George Deukmejian has proposed changing the formula to give less money to large districts such as Los Angeles, and the state’s independent legislative analyst recommended Monday that the state end the incentive program altogether, saying it costs too much and has had little effect on whether districts go year-round.

CHANGES TO INCREASE CAPACITY AT L.A. SCHOOLS Under a school board mandate to increase capacity by 23%, 63 elementary schools and one junior high in the Los Angeles Unified School District will convert to multi-track, year-round operation this summer. Others schools have chosen to add portable classrooms, increase the size of classes, convert administrative space or reconfigure to create additional space. Elementary schools going multi-track year-round (90 days on / 30 days off calendar):

Crenshaw area

Alta Loma

Hillcrest

Hyde Park

Sixth Street

Hollywood / Los Feliz area

Van Ness

Dayton Heights

Dorris Place

Elysian Heights

Garvanza

Los Feliz

San Fernando Valley

Apperson, Sunland

Arminta, North Hollywood

Bassett, Van Nuys

Beachy, Pacoima

Broadous, Pacoima

Burbank, North Hollywood

Canoga Park

Coldwater Canyon, North Hollywood

Dyer, Sylmar

El Dorado, Sylmar

Fenton Avenue, Lake View Terrace

Fernangeles, Sun Valley

Harding, Sylmar

Hazeltine, Van Nuys

Langdon, Sepulveda

Noble, Sepulveda

Plummer, Sepulveda

San Fernando

Sharp, Pacoima

Strathern, North Hollywood

Sylmar

Telfair, Pacoima

Valerio, Van Nuys

Southeast area

Florence

Nevin

Parmelee

Russell

Weigand

South-Central area

66th Street

68th Street

74th Street

95th Street

107th Street

Budlong

Manchester

Manhattan

Weemes

West Vernon

Woodcrest

(Also Foshay Junior High School)

Harbor area

Fries, Wilmington

Gardena

Gulf, Wilmington

Hawaiian, Wilmington

Lomita Fundamental Magnet

Meyler, Torrance

Normont, Harbor City

East Los Angeles / Eagle Rock area

City Terrace

Fourth Street

Griffin

Ninth Street

Rowan

Sheridan

Sierra Vista

Elementary schools adding portable classrooms and / or using other options such as increasing class size, converting office space to classrooms or reconfiguring by grade level:

Westside

Bellagio Road, Bel-Air

Brentwood Science Magnet

Canyon, Santa Monica Canyon

Castle Heights, West Los Angeles

Hancock Park, Fairfax

Kenter Canyon, Brentwood

Laurel, Fairfax

Open School, Fairfax

Overland, Rancho Park

Paseo del Rey Fundamental Magnet, Playa del Rey

Rosewood, Fairfax