Year-Round Schools in L.A.

In the various discussions of year-round schools, one viewpoint has been consistently ignored. That is the viewpoint of the non-custodial parent who may only see his/her child(ren) during vacation periods. A change to year-round schools would make most visitation agreements invalid and would thereby cause a major snarl-up in the family courts (which are already overcrowded!). In my own case, obtaining the current court order required several years and thousands of dollars. Does the school board intend to provide a mechanism for dealing with this problem? Since somewhere between one-third and one-half of the students in our public schools are subject to such visitation, this is a major issue.

Before a change is made to year-round schools, sufficient notice should be given--at least two years--to allow parents to change visitation schedules. Agreements should be made with the various courts to allow visitation changes due to the schedule change with a minimum of effort.

WILLIAM GEORGI

Canyon Country