Return to Class : Rolls Grow as School Year Starts

School gets into full swing today as students return to the 618 campuses in the Los Angeles Unified School district.

Students in the Los Angeles district will join more than 4 million California public school students who have already returned to classes.

Educators in Los Angeles, the nation’s second-largest school system, expect 594,000 students to enroll in kindergarten through 12th grade, an increase of 15,000 from last year’s record enrollment. Classes in Burbank, Newhall, Castaic and the Simi and Conejo valleys started on Monday. Students in Saugus, Sulphur Springs, Las Virgenes and the William S. Hart Union districts returned to class Thursday.

In Burbank, attendance on the first day was “pretty close to enrollment projections” of 11,500, up from 11,239 last year, according to James J. Perino, assistant superintendent for instruction.

Burbank Attendance Growing

This is the third consecutive year that attendance in Burbank has increased. In the late 1970s, Burbank had to close several elementary schools because of declining enrollment.

Although happy with the growth, Perino said the attendance rise should not be interpreted as a sign of significant renewed growth in the district. The figures merely may show an end to the “bottoming out” of enrollment, he said.

The largest enrollment increases in the San Fernando Valley area were reported in the fast-growing Santa Clarita Valley. Attendance in Newhall elementary schools grew by 10%, to 3,350. Saugus schools enrolled 4,416 students, up from last year’s 4,135.

The fastest-growing district in the Santa Clarita Valley, however, is Castaic. The system’s enrollment jumped by 29%, from 630 students last year to 811 this year.

Portable Classrooms Added

To accommodate the increase, 12 portable classrooms were added to the campus that houses all Castaic students. The additional classrooms have been turned into a separate middle school, the first in the district’s history.

In addition, 18 new teachers were hired this summer, giving the Castaic system a total of 31 teachers.

“We have a new staff, new students and are serving a new community,” said district Supt. Reed Montgomery.

In eastern Ventura County, school districts reported varying attendance trends. In Conejo, for example, district attendance increased by 41, to 17,300 students. District officials said enrollment at the elementary level increased significantly, but attendance at secondary schools declined.