Local News in Brief : Year-Round Schools Set

Culminating more than a year of discussion, the Long Beach Unified School District voted Monday to begin year-round operation of four elementary schools in July.

The schools--Lee, Burbank, Willard and Stevenson--have higher-than-average minority enrollments and are considered overcrowded, Deputy Supt. Charles Carpenter said. A fifth school, Twain, was dropped from the plan last spring after objections from parents.

Officials have called year-round operations one solution to overcrowding in the 66,000-student district, which is growing at a rate of about 1,200 students a year. By operating year-round, they say, a school can increase its capacity by about 25%.

Under the adopted plan, which some officials hope to eventually implement districtwide, students will attend class for 60 days, followed by 20 days of vacation.