160,000 Students Start Winter Break Monday

Parents of school-age children brace yourself: The first vacation break for more than 160,000 students in the Los Angeles Unified School District is just around the corner.

And unlike the summer session, when there were more minimum-wage jobs available and summer school was an alternative, this two-month break is likely to leave thousands of teen-agers idle.

Experts say the winter break for schools on the single-track system--it begins Monday and ends when classes go back in session Feb. 14--may be too short for employers to offer students part-time jobs, and the school district, citing budget cuts, will only be offering remedial classes at the secondary level and some special education classes.

“Remedial classes will begin after Christmas but will only be available to students who received Ds or failing grades during the first semester--students who need to improve their skills,” said Doris Dillard, coordinator for the district’s Career Development and Intersession.

This will be the first such vacation break for Los Angeles Unified schools since the district adopted the year-round system. The 160,000 students who will get the two months off are those on a single-track system, in which summer breaks are reduced but the time off in the winter is increased.

Twenty secondary school sites will be used for winter instruction in addition to 28 elementary schools and 18 special education schools.

Dillard said staffing will be based on student enrollment, but she expects about 20,000 students to participate in the winter program.

For parents with children in kindergarten through sixth grade, the Torrance-South Bay Family YMCA is offering a day vacation camp program beginning Monday and running through Feb. 13. According to Joe Naylor, the center’s executive director, the program includes 11 child-care sites and will have weekly field trips, sports and games and other activities to keep the youngsters busy. The camp begins at 6:30 a.m and ends at 6 p.m. The Torrance YWCA also has a similar program.