Parents Get Answers to Questions About Year-Round Schools

Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about the Los Angeles school board’s decision to put schools on a year-round calendar: Q:

How will my child’s school be affected by the board vote?

A:

If your school currently operates on a traditional September-to-June calendar, it will have to find a way to accommodate up to 23% more students by choosing one or any combination of three options: adopt one of two forms of a year-round calendar, increase class size or add portable classrooms. The board has chosen 109 schools that must comply by July. All other traditional schools will have to use these methods to increase capacity over the next three years.

If your school already operates year-round, the main change will be that it may have to adopt a new type of year-round calendar, called “90/30.” Some year-round schools already operate on this schedule, which provides rotating periods of 90 days in school and 30 days on vacation. All schools will be required to be on this schedule by 1991.

Q:

Why are year-round schools necessary in the Los Angeles district?

A:

District officials say enrollment growth is outpacing the ability to build new schools. While new schools are under construction, other relief measures are necessary to ensure that the 60,000 additional pupils expected over the next several years have classroom seats. A year-round calendar can create more classroom seats by using facilities through the summer months. It does not lengthen the school year. Students will still attend class 180 days a year, the same as on a traditional calendar.

Q:

I keep hearing the phrases “multi-track” and “single-track” in reference to year-round school. What’s the difference, and how do I know which version my school will adopt?

A:

A multi-track calendar will enable a school to increase its enrollment by dividing students into four groups, or tracks. Only three groups are on campus at a time, while one group goes on vacation. All students attend school for at least part of the summer.

Any of the 109 schools could opt to switch to multi-track operation by July and would receive priority for air-conditioning, as well as qualify for special state incentive money. If a school chooses another means of increasing the capacity of its campus, it can wait until July, 1991, to implement year-round operation.

All schools must go year-round by July, 1991, but the majority are expected to choose the single-track version of the year-round calendar. (See accompanying graph.) Under this version, all students attend school and break for vacation at the same time, and no additional seats would be created. But it would allow those schools to be in sync with students in the rest of the district.

Q:

If a school chooses to increase class size, is there a limit on how much larger classes could be?

A:

Yes, each class could be enlarged by a maximum of two pupils. Additional teachers would also be available. For instance, if a school with 14 classrooms increases each class by two students, it would receive one additional teacher. But that teacher might have to share a classroom with another instructor.

Q:

How will schools decide which options to adopt?

A:

Parents, staff (including clerical and support workers as well as teachers) and community representatives who serve on approved school councils will vote on each option. The option receiving the most votes will be chosen. But the Board of Education will have final approval.

Q:

Will my elementary school child be on the same schedule as my children in junior and senior high school?

A:

District officials say every effort will be made to keep all children in a family on the same schedule but they cannot guarantee that every request can be satisfied. Officials note, however, that placing the entire district on the 90/30 calendar by 1991 will make it easier to keep families together.

Q:

What happens now? What is the timetable?

A:

The 109 elementary schools must submit a plan by April. All other elementary campuses have until February, 1991, to submit their plans. The deadlines for junior and senior high schools will be determined by next February.

In addition, informational meetings will be held at schools over the next two months to explain the options and solicit input from parents.

YEAR-ROUND ’90 / 30’ SCHOOL CALENDAR This is how the “multi-track 90/30” year-round calendar, adopted by the Los Angeles Board of Education Monday, might work.

District officials will be refining the calendar this spring. The calendar is called 90/30 because it provides two roughly 90-day academic terms and two roughly 30-day vacation breaks.

If a school chooses the “multi-track” version (A through D), enrollment would be divided into four groups, or tracks. Students on three of those tracks would be in school at any one time. Vacations would be rotated. This option would allow a school to operate through the summer months and thereby accommodate up to a third more students than it could under a traditional September to June calendar.

If a school chose single track (A only), no additional classroom seats would result. But this option would allow students to maintain the same schedule as students in the rest of the district.