Board Weighs Year-Round School : Education: Waves of immigrants’ children have boosted enrollment. Seven major measures are being studied after temporary solutions have failed.

Faced with rising student enrollments, choked playgrounds, the resumption of busing and growing frustration among teachers, Glendale school administrators appear to be ready to embrace year-round education, despite opposition by parents who fear drastic change in the city’s public schools.

Converting at least some schools to a year-round schedule is the most dramatic of seven major measures being reviewed by the Glendale Unified School District to control spiraling student enrollment, now nearing the highest levels in two decades.

Until now, the district has used busing, portable classrooms, boundary changes and some construction as Band-Aids for overcrowded campuses, all of which are in southern Glendale. But dwindling funds, space and public patience for such measures have demanded greater action, officials acknowledged.

“Something has to be done,” said Jane Whitaker, president of the Glendale Board of Education. “It’s agonizing. But the problem isn’t going to wait for us.”

This year’s enrollment of about 24,200, expected to grow by at least 200 in the spring, is nearing the record highs of the 1960s, when more than 25,000 students attended Glendale schools. But today’s district has five fewer campuses because of closures between 1979 and 1983 due to dwindling enrollment and high operating costs.

School district officials said a long-term alternative should be in place by September, 1991, with short-term, stopgap measures--such as busing and use of portable trailers--applied in the meantime.

The Board of Education ultimately will decide what remedy to apply. A preliminary decision, at least, is expected by summer. But a task force of administrators, teachers, parents and businessmen, which since September has been reviewing year-round education and other prospects, will offer recommendations in a report due Feb. 6.

Rough drafts of that report will be available at all the schools after Jan. 17, and the public will be able to comment on them at a Jan. 24 hearing, set for 7 p.m. in the Wilson Junior High auditorium.

The options include:

* Year-round education. In general, students would be divided into “tracks” that attend class on a rotating basis, with one group on vacation while the others are in school.

About 20 variations of five or six basic year-round plans are in use nationwide, but many more schedules are possible, according to state department of education research. In one plan, for instance, the school year is divided into four nine-week quarters, increasing the school’s capacity by 25%. When tracks 1, 2 and 3 are attending classes, track 4 is on vacation. When track 4 returns, track 1 goes on vacation.

Another plan would divide the year into three 60-day sessions, each separated by a 20-day vacation period. The schedules could be voluntary or mandatory, state research indicates.

Year-round schooling, the most controversial measure considered, also may be the most practical, some task force members contend. Advocates hold that year-round scheduling makes more efficient use of facilities and provides better continuity for teachers and students. Most important, they say, it can increase a school’s capacity by 25% or more, depending on how many tracks are created.

Most members of the task force have endorsed the concept, under certain conditions: that all year-round schools have air-conditioning; that children in the same families stay on the same track; that school scheduling be coordinated with social services and activities, and that parents and personnel be directly involved in its planning. Concerns about scheduling of vacations, summer jobs and extracurricular activities, however, make the option more appealing for elementary campuses than junior or senior high schools, the task force has agreed.

The state is encouraging districts to convert to year-round schooling by offering them money for air conditioning, which is needed for classes during the summer. But its $31-million fund, flooded with requests from districts statewide, is expected to run dry within a year. And the Glendale district, overcrowded only in its southern schools, may not qualify as a high priority, state officials warn.

“Districts need to move it” and apply for assistance, said John Jenkin, a supervisor with the Dept. of General Services in Sacramento, which oversees the air-conditioning coffer. “There’s no guarantee that when the dollars are gone, there’ll be anything around to replace them.”

Despite funding uncertainties, most educators agree year-round schooling is the likely option to be chosen. Board of Education members say they are waiting for the task force report--but most acknowledge it is the leading contender.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the way it does go,” Whitaker said. “It makes sense economically and makes the most efficient use of buildings.”

Many parents, however, are troubled by the option. “My No. 1 concern is that the different tracks not conflict with extracurricular activities, and I can’t imagine how they would not conflict,” said Danette Erickson, a parent on the task force. “It’s like we’re considering a dream situation.”

* Magnet schools. The small, free-standing facilities most likely would be theme-oriented and built in impacted areas. The concept is appealing, task force members agree, but probably wouldn’t significantly curtail overcrowding and would require building space and funds that don’t exist.

* Open enrollment. The option would allow parents to choose where to send their children, and could balance southern Glendale schools by moving some of their populations north. But task force members, fearing that white students would move from the mainly ethnic southern schools, say they would limit the option to overcrowded schools or to ethnic minorities. The option has been popular, but may not be possible without free busing and could make it difficult to predict enrollment changes.

* Construction. The district recently added 20 permanent classrooms to Mann Elementary, and by 1991 will build about 98 more at three other elementaries and at Glendale and Hoover high schools. These projects may reduce the use of portable trailers on campuses, but probably will not reduce the need for busing, officials say.

Task force members called permanent construction an “ideal alternative.” But with few dollars and little space on which to build, constructing additional classrooms beyond those already planned may be unlikely and unfeasible, district officials acknowledge.

The district, which already owes about $5 million in loans, this spring will borrow another $10 million to fund the projects, said David Kanthak, assistant superintendent of business services. Kanthak also predicted the city’s moratorium on development could cause a slowdown in developer fees, which are paid to the district by commercial and residential builders and help fund construction. Most of the fees--about $5 million since 1987--have been used to pay for portable trailers, each of which rents for about $6,000 a month, he said.

* Grade-level reconfiguration. The district already plans to move ninth-graders by 1992 into Hoover and Glendale high schools, where construction will accommodate the change. But the task force has endorsed moving sixth-graders to junior highs as well, as long as space is available. That would relieve elementary campuses, which face the most severe overcrowding.

* Boundary changes. The district has changed school boundaries about six times in the last five years to siphon students in clogged schools to less crowded schools nearby. The task force has endorsed altering boundaries in the future, but has warned that the practice can be disruptive and unpopular.

* Double sessions. The concept of morning and afternoon “tracks” could make efficient use of school facilities and curtail overcrowding. One group of students would begin school early in the day, with a second group following in the afternoon. But an extended day also could cause child care and other scheduling problems for parents and teachers, the task force has said. The idea is being recommended only as a last resort.

Dramatic action cannot come too soon for southern Glendale’s packed schools, which have seen their enrollments outrun projections for the past five years.

Enrollment began to boom in 1985, when politics abroad and immigration policies at home brought a flood of immigrants, especially Soviet Armenians, Koreans and Latinos, into southern Glendale and its multitude of apartment buildings. Often, several families moved into a single unit, and immigrants steadily streamed into Glendale and its schools throughout the school year, said Vic Pallos, a spokesman for the district.

Since then, projecting enrollment has become increasingly difficult, administrators say. About 700 more students than expected arrived for school this year. And administrators say predictions for the next few years are not being taken too seriously.

“It’s more a factor of the world situation than anything else right now,” Kanthak said. “That we have almost no control over, and certainly no way to predict.”

The burgeoning student population has changed the nature of Glendale’s traditionally neighborhood schools. At Marshall, an elementary school recognized nationally for its academic quality, 13 portable trailers all but cover fading four-square lines on the playground. Another 57 serve as classrooms on other campuses. Lunches and recesses are staggered up to five times a day to accommodate all the students, said Principal Nancy Jude.

About 70 children--mostly Soviet Armenians and Latinos--show up each morning at Marshall to be bused to Glenoaks Elementary, about 10 minutes away. Five kindergartners are bused in the afternoons. All arrived too late to enroll at Marshall, which exceeded its capacity just three days after school began. An equal number of students are being transported from Mann Elementary to Franklin and Cerritos elementaries.

Busing, which began in September for the first time in almost two decades, is expected to continue, despite construction of new classrooms at both schools, administrators say.

“Kids seem to handle it fine. They seem to have fun,” Jude said. “It’s the parents who are concerned.”

Effects of overcrowding often seem unpredictable, educators say. Extra bathrooms have been added at Columbus Elementary, while some of its light bulbs have been removed to prevent electrical overload, one teacher said. Some 68 maintenance workers completed 7,800 jobs at Glendale schools during the 1984-85 school year. This year, 69 workers will handle about 17,000, according to Dick White, director of maintenance and operations. White said, “We’re being impacted like everyone else.”

In junior highs and high schools, libraries, study centers, offices and basement storage rooms have been converted to classrooms and moved to smaller quarters. Many teachers now teach classes during their preparation period. And although the number of fights on campuses has not increased substantially, educators are concerned that crowded facilities will trigger a rise in violence.

“I wouldn’t say it was a problem yet,” said Don Empey, deputy superintendent of instruction. “But the more kids you get on a campus, the more it can create those kinds of problems.”

There is little evidence that students’ grades or test scores have been affected by the crunch. Classes average about 30 students each, and extra teachers are hired when that average climbs, as required by teacher contracts.

“I do not think now nor do I feel in the future that there will be an impact on the quality of education,” said an adamant Diane Hawley, who has been principal at Balboa Elementary for the last decade. “We will continue to deal with problems as they arise and maintain standards as we always have.”

Still, some parents and teachers have protested the district’s handling of the problem, demanding more involvement in choosing long-term remedies and criticizing administrators for not foreseeing the enrollment boom.

“We don’t want to see our kids shuffled around like musical chairs,” Gerald Lancaster, a spokesman for parents of students at Franklin Elementary, told Board of Education members in November. Parents became incensed after classes at Franklin were reorganized to accommodate children bused from Mann, Lancaster said.

“We were aware of the overcrowding situation,” he said. “What upset us is the haphazard manner they picked to alleviate it without informing us. For too long, parents have been taken for granted.”

Another parent group, the “Balboa Parents’ Vigilante Committee,” was formed last spring after the district changed boundaries between Jefferson and Balboa elementaries and failed to consult parents, said Bob Burlison, a spokesman for the group and a member of the district’s task force.

Such groups may be instrumental in influencing the Board of Education’s decision. At one meeting last month, Burlison told parents of the options being considered by the task force and urged them to demand a role in the process. “You can raise holy hell, and you should,” Burlison said. “These are your children being affected.”

But the pep talk did little to soothe the concerns of some parents. “The talk of the town is private school or move out of Glendale,” said Patti Specht, PTA president at Balboa. “The cord we have right now is starting to unravel.”

“The goal of the task force is to make a laundry list of alternatives,” said Mark Desetti, a fifth-grade teacher at Columbus and president of the Glendale Teachers Assn. “It’s fine for us to be a part of making the list. But what role will we have in choosing what the final solution will be? I’m not convinced that the task force means there will be teacher involvement in the final decision.”

Desetti and others predicted the board would “vote as a bloc,” following the recommendations of district officials with little or no dissent, and criticized board members for failing to consult earlier with teachers.

“I just hope they talk to teachers before they make their decision,” Desetti said. “We don’t intend to just nod and say, ‘Well, everything’s fine, whatever you decide.”’

District officials insisted that parents and teachers will not be excluded from determining the future of its schools, citing the Jan. 24 public hearing and a Jan. 10 mailing of informational letters to parents.

The board will consult with teachers and administrators after it receives the report, its members said, and may hold additional public hearings at various school sites. It also will review the findings of a local architectural firm that in early February will conclude a feasibility study of all the schools.

“I think it would be foolish to appoint a task force if we were just going to go our own way,” said Charles Whitesell, a board of education member. Teachers, personnel and community services all would have to be consulted before the district adopts a long-term alternative, he said.

THE OPTIONS

A task force of Glendale school administrators, teachers, parents, city officials and business leaders has been reviewing several measures to cope with overcrowding. Board of Education members will receive the task force’s recommendations Feb. 6, after a public hearing on Jan. 24.

The options being considered:

YEAR-ROUND SCHOOLS (Chances: Very likely)

Students would be divided into “tracks” that attend classes and take vacations on a rotating basis.

Benefits: Increases a school’s capacity by 25% to 50%. Reduces need for busing. Encouraged by state through additional funding.

Drawbacks: Is fairly expensive and requires air-conditioning for summer classes. May cause scheduling problems for families. May complicate or restrict extracurricular activities. May be more feasible at elementary level than secondary.

GRADE-LEVEL RECONFIGURATION (Chances: Likely)

The district already has decided to transfer ninth grades to Glendale and Hoover high schools. Those reconfigurations should be complete by 1992.)

Benefits: May alleviate overcrowding in elementary and junior high schools.

Drawbacks: Would be limited by lack of room and facilities available.

BOUNDARY CHANGES (Chances: Likely)

Boundaries between neighboring schools would be redrawn to allow students from one to be siphoned to the other.

Benefits: Is inexpensive. Requires little time to implement.

Drawbacks: May require students to move to a school farther away. Not feasible in areas most affected by problem.

MAGNET SCHOOLS (Chances: Somewhat likely)

Small, free-standing schools, most likely theme-oriented, would be built in affected areas. Benefits: Could attract students to undercrowded site. Allows for voluntary enrollment.

Drawbacks: Sites may not be available. Transportation may be costly.

OPEN ENROLLMENT (Chances: Somewhat likely)

Limited to students at overcrowded schools or to ethnic minorities.

Benefits: Allows parents to choose school. Is voluntary.

Drawbacks: Is not possible without free busing. Makes it difficult to predict enrollment changes. Could overcrowd popular schools. Could create racial segregation.

NEW CONSTRUCTION (Chances: Unlikely)

The district already has five construction projects planned through 1992, but not all are expected to reduce overcrowding.

Benefits: Increases schools’ capacity. Reduces need for busing. Replaces bungalows and trailers (non-permanent classrooms).

Drawbacks: Is very expensive--between $10 million and $15 million per school.

Requires several years for completion.

DOUBLE SESSIONS (Chances: Very unlikely)

One group of students begins school early in the day with a second group starting in the afternoon.

Benefits: Increases school’s capacity. Relieves traffic congestion.

Drawbacks: Requires teachers to share classrooms. Causes staffing and scheduling problems.