Drawing New Lines at School : Legislation: Proposed bills would help create open enrollment policies. Some coaches believe measures could lead to recruitment of athletes.

In 1988, Fountain Valley High School won the Southern Section Big Five football championship. In 1989, the Barons barely qualified for the playoffs and were eliminated in the first round.

The Barons’ fall from superiority was due in part to the number of talented players who had graduated. Only two starters returned from the championship team, which left too many holes to fill.

It was part of the natural cycle of high school athletics, where the talent in a school district can vary greatly from year to year.

But that cycle may be in jeopardy, according to coaches in Orange County who are concerned about the future of high school athletics.

There are two bills under consideration in the State Legislature. One in the State Senate would mandate open enrollment within each school district; the other, in the State Assembly, would allow adjacent districts to enter into an open enrollment agreement. Both bills are scheduled for committee hearings today.Q

Proponents of open enrollment say it will stimulate education in California by forcing schools to have a quality curriculum in order to attract students.

Although legislators say that both bills have enough safeguards to prevent a student from using it for athletic purposes, coaches are concerned that it will lead to the recruiting of athletes.

“They want to make education part of the free-enterprise system where teachers and educators must bust their butts to make their school look attractive,” Esperanza football Coach Gary Meek said. “That could open a big can of worms in athletics.”

Western basketball Coach Greg Hoffman said competition for the best athletes could reach a point where high school coaches recruit junior high school athletes in much the same way college coaches go after high school athletes.

“It’s going to become a meat market,” Hoffman said. “It could get to the point where every coach will need to have a junior high recruiter on staff. I personally don’t want to be in a situation where I’m talking to a 12- or 13-year-old kid about why he should go to Western instead of Loara.”

But Kevin Hanley, a consultant for State Sen. Bill Leonard (R-Big Bear), said concerns about the impact of open enrollment on athletics are unfounded.

“There are specific provisions within the bill that say that schools can not use it to recruit athletes,” Hanley said. “Furthermore, there is criteria in the bill that would make it difficult for schools to attract students for athletic purposes alone.” As proposed in the State Senate bill, students could go to a school outside their area only for academic need. Schools would have to give enrollment priority to students who lived within the school’s old boundary and for students who had siblings attend the school.

Coaches say this sounds fine in theory. But in practice?

“No matter what the limitations, people will always find ways around them,” El Toro football Coach Bob Johnson said.

The Long Beach Unified School District has had a policy of limited open enrollment for nearly 20 years. It was designed to help integrate schools within the district by allowing a percentage of students to choose which school to attend.

However, some coaches in that district believe the system has been abused.

“It says that you can’t have contact with junior high school kids,” Long Beach Wilson basketball Coach Jim Ferguson said. “But with so many coaches who have that win-at-all-cost attitude, there is an awful lot of contact. A coach may not personally talk with a kid, but they have people in the community who will encourage a kid to attend a particular school. The district basically doesn’t want to deal with the problem and looks the other way.”

Two Orange County districts already have open enrollment policies: Irvine Unified School District and Santa Ana Unified School District.

Santa Ana officials said the district has had more than 200 students apply for its open enrollment program next year. Irvine school officials estimate that approximately 15% of the district students took advantage of its policy last year.

“It hasn’t had a tremendous impact in athletics, mainly because coaches have decided to only deal with the kids that live in their area,” Woodbridge basketball Coach Bill Shannon said. “If you have people who feel that way, then you’re going to be OK.”

According to Corona del Mar Principal Tom Jacobson, almost every district already has an intra-district transfer policy. Students can apply for various reasons, which don’t include athletics, and are usually granted the transfer.

“The legislation would merely put into law what’s already in practice,” Jacobson said. “It will publicize it more, but I don’t think it will cause any great change.”

Jacobson also said Southern Section rules regarding athletics will remain in effect, which would prevent the abuse of the open enrollment law.

Under Southern Section rules, students entering the ninth grade can attend any school they want, provided they receive permission from the district. Once in high school, they are eligible to compete on athletic teams.

However, if a student transfers after he has entered high school, he can not compete in a varsity sport for one year. The exception is if the entire family moves from one district to another.

Jacobson said those rules will remain in effect no matter what open enrollment laws are passed.

“The Southern Section will still be in control of athletics,” said Jacobson, who is president of the Southern Section executive committee. “We already have rumors of recruiting and undue influence and we spend a lot of time investigating those cases. I understand the concerns of coaches, but I don’t see that there will be a problem.”

However, Southern Section Commissioner Stan Thomas disagrees. He said any open enrollment law would increase the section’s workload.

“Potentially, I see great ramifications,” Thomas said. “What could happen is that our rules could be negated by the state legislators. I can see it being total chaos. Maybe I’m being too narrow-minded, but I can see problems with opening the door where kids could eventually choose a school because of its football program. But the bureaucrats, from the governor on down, feel that free choice in education is the way to go.”

Giving parents the freedom of choice is what concerns legislators the most.

State Sen. John Seymour (R-Anaheim) is a strong advocate of open enrollment. He said parents deserve the right to guide a child’s education and that they should not be bound by district lines.

“My argument is that a student shouldn’t be sentenced to a low-quality education,” Seymour said. “A parent who isn’t satisfied with of the quality of their child’s education should have an option.”

But coaches say that giving parents that much freedom could lead to those same parents shopping an athlete from school to school.

“You’re going to have a situation where parents are calling the shots,” Johnson said. “You’ll end up having to sell your program to them, like ‘We’re going to take a trip here,’ or ‘Our sponsor is Nike and your son will get these shoes.’ That already goes on now to some degree. If we have open enrollment, you might as well hire a recruiting coordinator.”

Added Hoffman: “There will be more pressure put on winning to attract athletes. You’ll find coaches who are nice, who are honest, that end up cheating just to keep up with the other guy. You’ll have the Little League parent on the high school level, who gets angry at the coach and takes their kid elsewhere. It will end up being just like college athletics.

“If it comes to that, I may get out.”

THE LEGISLATION

Legislation under consideration in the California State Legislature:

SENATE BILL 1863

Provides for open enrollment within a school district. A priority would be given to students who live within the vicinity of a particular school or had siblings who attended the school. A priority also would be given to students with specific child-care needs. After those priorities, a student would be allowed to apply at any school within the district. A random selection process would be set up by the school district.

ASSEMBLY BILL 1411

Provides for consortium for inter-district open enrollment between adjacent school districts. Also would provide funds for the transportation of students who need it. Funds have not been appropriated at this time. Districts may apply to be part of the pilot project.

OPEN ENROLLMENT IN SANTA ANA

Under the open enrollment policy in the Santa Ana Unified School District, high school students can attend any of four district high schools: Santa Ana, Century, Saddleback or Santa Ana Valley

OPEN ENROLLMENT IN IRVINE

Under the open enrollment policy in the Irvine Unified School District, high school students can attend any of three district high schools: Irvine, Woodbridge or University.