Closed School May Be Used to Handle Expelled L.A. Students : Education: Tougher policy on carrying firearms to class has caused more expulsions. A former junior high facility in Woodland Hills may be used as a learning center.

Faced with expelling as many as 250 students this year because of a much-toughened policy on taking weapons to class, Los Angeles school officials may convert part of a former junior high school in Woodland Hills into a special educational center for troubled youths.

The Los Angeles County’s Office of Education runs about 14 such centers serving students who have been expelled from school, convicted of crimes or have been unable to function in regular schools. Because the centers are full, the Los Angeles Board of Education on Monday told its staff to determine if several classrooms at the former Hughes Junior High School can be used by the county to expand its program.

Several board members said the district has a responsibility to ensure that the students get the chance to complete their education.

“I think it’s a travesty to put 14- and 15-year-olds on the street,” said board member Rita Walters, who has repeatedly argued that the district should not abandon students who have been expelled.

Last June, the board approved regulations calling for the automatic expulsion of students in grades six through 12 who take firearms to school or cause fights that lead to serious injury.

Until then, the district had allowed many of those students to attend alternative programs or to transfer to other schools, rather than put them on the street. The number of students expelled by the board has risen since the regulations were adopted.

The 30 slots alloted to the district at the county centers for this school year have been filled, school officials said.

“We’re really starting to feel the impact of this new board policy,” said Hector Madrigal, the district’s coordinator of student discipline proceedings.

Every week, Madrigal prepares a list of students who have been recommended for expulsion because of offenses ranging from felony assault to drug dealing to taking loaded weapons to school. At Monday’s meeting, the board expelled eight students.

The county’s Community Day Centers offer expelled students another chance to earn a high school diploma with the help of teachers, probation officers and school psychologists.

Some of the students expelled have been failing or earning Ds in most of their classes for years, school officials said. By law, the district has no responsibility for students it expels. Students can apply for reinstatement two semesters after their expulsion.

The county would run the program at Hughes, which was closed several years ago and now houses administrative offices.

Serious assaults at Los Angeles schools rose dramatically during the 1989-90 school year. The number of students attacked with deadly weapons jumped by 36%, and 354 guns were confiscated on campus, a 29.2% rise over the previous school year, according to a district crime report released in August.