Kindergarten Begins : Class of 2000 Gets Pep Talk on Very 1st Day

The spotlight was on this year’s new kindergartners Wednesday as classes began for most of Los Angeles’ 600,000 public school students.

“This class is an historic class,” Principal Roland R. Lewis told new kindergartners and their families at Eagle Rock’s Delevan Drive Elementary School, “because if you count up the number of years until (high school) graduation, this is the class of the year 2000.”

The tiny school auditorium burst into applause. One mother cried.

“It got to me,” Melody Bergeron said later, glancing down at her son Tim, “because he’s the baby of the family, and 2000 seems so far away.”

The Los Angeles school district expects nearly 50,000 kindergarten students to enroll this fall, up from last year’s 48,000.

Supt. Britton Sets Goal

Supt. Leonard Britton, the former Miami schools chief who is starting his first year in the district, called for a maximum effort to see that this year’s kindergartners graduate from high school on schedule.

“I want teachers to do everything they can to make these youngsters feel special, important, unique . . . and to make sure that all of them graduate in the year 2000,” said Britton, who dubbed this goal his “13-Year Plan.”

However, in a district where estimates of the dropout rate range as high as 50%, and where thousands of students are unable to attend their neighborhood schools because of a shortage of classrooms, that goal may not easily be achieved.

About 150,000 Los Angeles public school students already are on year-round schedules. (They started school two months ago.) The school board is studying several proposals to add to that number. A decision is expected by Oct. 12.

Enrollment has increased an average of 6,700 students a year since 1981, and officials expect a substantial increase again this year.

The largest increases have occurred in kindergarten through sixth grades, mainly because of heightened immigration and Los Angeles County’s rising birth rate, district officials said.

To accommodate the burgeoning enrollment, the district purchased 260 portable bungalows, most of which are being used to ease crowded conditions in the Central City, Southeast, Wilshire corridor and East San Fernando Valley regions, officials said.

Construction is under way or will begin shortly on four new elementary schools in Bell and South Gate, where schools face severe crowding, even though they operate year-round. And the state has approved 31 other district building projects, which include 10 new schools and 21 expansions.

Even so, the number of students who cannot attend their neighborhood schools due to overcrowding continues to rise, officials say.

Last year, 25,000 students were bused, often great distances, to schools with extra seats. This year, that number is expected to exceed 31,000. And officials expect the figure to hit 50,000 by 1989 unless more classroom space is created.