District to Help 13 East Valley Schools Avert Overcrowding

Thirteen East San Fernando Valley elementary schools have been identified by the Los Angeles Unified School District as having the potential for becoming overcrowded by the fall.

The district is considering placing bungalows on the campuses or redesigning school boundaries to offset probable increases in enrollment, according to Tony Rivas, superintendent of the region in which the schools are situated.

Rivas said that, if those options do not alleviate the problem, the district would work with parents on more drastic solutions, possibly including year-round classes or “capping” enrollment.

Limiting Enrollment

When a school is “capped,” only students enrolled the previous year are allowed to return. New students are bused to adjacent schools, with the exception of kindergarten pupils, who are allowed to enroll until all classes are filled.

The schools listed as having the potential to be overcrowded in September are: Broadus, Pacoima; Chase, Panorama City; Dyer, Sylmar; El Dorado, Sylmar; Fernangeles, Sun Valley; Fenton, Lake View Terrace; Langdon, Sepulveda; Ligget, Panorama City; O’Melveny, San Fernando; Plummer, Sepulveda; Sharp, Pacoima; Sylmar, and Gridley, San Fernando.

According to figures reported to the district in the fall, enrollment at those schools runs from a high of 1,075 at Sharp to a low of 649 at O’Melveny.

“There is a concern about crowded conditions at these schools,” said Santiago Jackson, chairman of the district’s School Utilization Task Force. He said the district had classified 29 schools as potentially being overcrowded next school year.

The district hopes to know by next week whether enough bungalows would be available by the time school starts.

Teachers Informed

Teachers at the 13 campuses were informed by their principals at the beginning of the month that the schools might receive help dealing with enrollment.

Under a district policy negotiated with the United Teachers of Los Angeles, if crowding leads district officials to consider converting a school to a year-round schedule, faculty members must be given ample warning so they can rearrange their schedules or apply for a transfer.

There are 11 schools with year-round sessions in the Valley, five in the northeast Valley, north of Roscoe Boulevard.

“We are experiencing a lot of growth out here,” said Carl Lipari, principal of Sylmar Elementary, which has 704 students. “There are a lot of housing developments being built out here because land is relatively cheap and the housing is affordable. That means a lot of new families. It seems like every week we are enrolling a new student.”

Besides, the northeastern Valley has fast-growing Latino and Asian immigrant communities. Minority enrollment at the 13 schools runs from 50% to 97%.