La Cañada school board officials weigh out-of-district changes

La Cañada Unified School District board members will soon discuss the process by which they accept out-of-district permit applications, in light of recent negotiations with Glendale Unified School District over the possible transfer of students living in the Sagebrush territory.

At a Tuesday meeting, Board President Ellen Multari requested the matter be placed on an upcoming agenda. She said LCUSD has already received enough applications for the upcoming school year to put the district beyond it’s 15% cap for permit students.

“Right now, we have a 15% cap, and we’re at 15.1% with our current permit applications,” Multari said. “We couldn’t take [Sagebrush students] without reclassification.”

Currently, the district gives priority in accepting applications from children whose parents work full time or part time in La Cañada. Students who live in the city’s westernmost region, called Sagebrush, receive third priority.

In previous discussions, LCUSD officials have said they would allow Sagebrush families wishing to transfer in to do so starting in the 2014-15 school year on a volunteer basis. But if too many other applications must be accepted first, that would be impossible.

Board member David Sagal expressed his worry that talking about any discussions related to the transfer could potentially harm ongoing negotiations, but Multari said deadlines needed to be considered.

“What I’m concerned is the problem we’re creating for some of these families that are in their own limbo,” she said.

The next regular meeting of the LCUSD Governing Board is July 15 at 7 p.m. in the district’s Round Building, 4490 Cornishon Ave.

--Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com

Follow on Twitter: @SaraCardine.

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