10 L.A. Schools Picked to Offer Afternoon Tutoring

Mayor Tom Bradley and school officials Tuesday named the first 10 Los Angeles schools that will offer afternoon tutoring, child care and snacks to students as part of the mayor’s plan to combat drug use and street gangs.

Schools are ordinarily not part of Los Angeles city government, but in April, Bradley proposed the ambitious program of after-school services and volunteered to pay for it with city redevelopment funds. The plan was hailed by school officials here.

Students would be able to remain at their schools until 6 p.m. and receive help with homework from tutors employed by the school. Supervised sports activities and snacks would also be offered.

The plan is aimed at students who either return to an empty home after school or spend the afternoon on the streets. Bradley said Tuesday during a visit to Hobart Elementary School, one of the 10 schools, that giving the students the chance to remain safely at school will discourage drug use and gang activity.

‘Losing Too Many’

“We believe that this program will help demonstrate we can put these youngsters on the right track,” Bradley said. “We’re losing too many youngsters to dropout, to gangs and to drugs.”

Bradley proposed offering services to students at all of the more than 400 elementary schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District, which would make it the most extensive after-school program in the nation. But the money, several hundred million dollars, will only become available if a court-ordered limit on the amount of redevelopment money that the city may spend is raised.

A Superior Court judge imposed the limit in the 1970s after City Councilman Ernani Bernardi complained in a lawsuit that too much property tax collected in downtown Los Angeles was going for redevelopment uses. Bradley and other city officials have asked that the limit be raised.

Meanwhile, the program is scheduled to begin at the first 10 schools in September with about $2 million allocated by the city Community Redevelopment Agency and a donation from L.A. Gear, an athletic footwear and attire firm.

“There is no more critical need in our city than after-school care for our youngsters,” said Rita Walters, president of the Los Angeles Board of Education.

In addition to Hobart, the schools selected are Ann Street, Hawaiian Avenue, Logan Street, Sylmar, Weigand Avenue, Canoga Park, Manchester Avenue, Utah Street and Westminster Avenue.