Immigrants Fuel Enrollment Surge in Lennox Schools

Lennox School District, the largest immigrant “port of entry” school district in the state, has enrolled a record number of students at its five elementary schools and one middle school, district officials announced.

Supt. Kenneth L. Moffett attributes the increase that brought enrollment to more than 5,700 students to continued immigration in the area.

The state uses the term “port of entry” to define school districts that serve as the first settling areas for immigrants to California; such districts commonly have a high number of students with limited proficiency in English.

The designation is based on a formula that takes into account the number of immigrant students in a district and the number who are not proficient in English.

At Lennox, the enrollment of 42% immigrant students is the highest among the eight “port of entry” school districts in the state, school officials said.

About 4,500 Lennox students are classified as not proficient in English.

Enrollment this term has risen to 5,708 students, a 4.5% increase over the 5,471 children enrolled through early October of last year, according to school officials.

The district earlier this year had projected an enrollment of 5,670 students by March, 1991, but that number was exceeded in September. Enrollment is being monitored daily, Moffett told the district’s Board of Trustees last week.

The district has leased six portable classrooms to accommodate the increase and is considering changing the school calendar to a four-track, year-round schedule, said Bruce McDaniel, assistant superintendent.

The average class size is 29, about the same as last year, because the district has added eight teachers. The biggest enrollment increases have occurred in kindergarten, first and second grade, McDaniel said.

Except for a three-year period in the mid-1980s, enrollment in the Lennox district has increased every year since 1974. However, having such a large enrollment gain so early in the school year is unusual, McDaniel said. Generally, enrollment reaches its peak in the spring, he said. District officials are unsure how high enrollment might reach by the end of the year.

The recent gain is made more startling by the fact that almost no new housing has been constructed in the 1.1-square-mile community. This has led school officials to surmise that there has been a significant increase in the numbers of multiple families living in areas zoned for single-family residences. Officials also believe the sizes of families living in the unincorporated community is larger.

The district operates on a modified year-round schedule that takes into account the cultural needs of its students, Moffett said.

More than 90% of the students are Latino. Because a substantial number of Mexican immigrant families in the community return to Mexico during the Christmas and Easter holidays, the schools take a three-week vacation during those periods, Moffett said. Summer vacation is shortened to about seven weeks. The schedule has increased attendance and is popular among students, faculty and parents, he said.

If enrollment continues to increase, the district might be forced to change the schedule to a year-round system that would put some of the students in school buildings most of the time, Moffett said.

The newly opened Kenneth L. Moffett Elementary School recently shut its enrollment at 1,088 students, 40 over capacity, Moffett said. Whelan school is just below its capacity of 532.