Long Beach : Vote on 9th-Graders

The Long Beach Unified School District Board of Education is expected to vote tonight on whether to send the district’s estimated 4,300 9th-graders to 4-year high schools next September. In addition, the proposal before the board would create five pilot “middle schools” to accommodate 6th-, 7th- and 8th-graders during a 3-year transition period in which the district’s 11 remaining junior high schools would be converted to middle schools.

Although most board members have expressed support for the concept, they delayed action on it last week after several angry parents complained that the district was moving too fast.

Since the early 1920s, 9th-graders in Long Beach have been grouped with 7th- and 8th-graders on junior high school campuses, while 10th-, 11th- and 12th-graders have attended senior high schools. District officials would like to change that format to help offset overcrowding in the 67,000-student district. By shifting students upward, they say, more space can be created on elementary school campuses, where the crowding is most acute.

The board is expected to vote on the matter during a special 6 p.m. meeting today at district headquarters.