Judge Refuses to Block Year-Round Schools

A Superior Court judge on Thursday rejected an injunction two parents had sought to prevent the Hawthorne School District from putting the last five of its nine schools on a year-round schedule.

Judge William Huss denied the request by parents Albert La Mere and Gladys Carlson of Hawthorne, who contended that district officials did not adequately notify parents of the change. The parents’ attorney, Jim Sloey, argued that the lack of notification deprived them of their right to put the issue before the voters through a petition drive.

Huss ruled in Los Angeles Superior Court that the parents’ technical argument did not outweigh the district’s right to impose year-round schedules.

Last month Huss had rejected a temporary restraining order sought by the parents to keep the district from holding a planning session to organize the year-round scheduling.

The district, which has 6,680 students, put its four most crowded schools--Yukon Intermediate and Eucalyptus, Williams and Zela Davis elementary schools--on a year-round schedule last July and announced that additional schools were being considered.

School board members voted Jan. 9 to add the five remaining campuses--Hawthorne Intermediate and Jefferson, Ramona, Washington and York elementary schools.

Sloey, the attorney for the two parents, argued that the district delayed voting on year-round schedules for the five remaining schools to prevent opponents from forcing the issue onto the ballot.

District officials said their July announcement that year-round schooling was under consideration at additional campuses gave parents ample opportunity to circulate petitions before the Dec. 10 deadline to put the issue on the April ballot.

“We’re very relieved that the court ruled not to grant the injunction,” Assistant Supt. Don Carrington said after Thursday’s decision. “We are actively implementing the year-round program to begin this July.”

Supporters of year-round schedules say they allow more efficient use of school facilities by eliminating the traditional summer vacation. Instead, vacations are staggered throughout the year.

Several school districts that neighbor Hawthorne already have adopted year-round schedules, including those in Lennox, Inglewood and Los Angeles.

In Hawthorne, resistance to year-round schedules was strongest at Ramona and Hawthorne Intermediate. Ramona parents, in particular, argued that their neighborhood of single-family homes was not experiencing the same population growth as those areas with booming apartment construction.

Carrington said the district as a whole has been experiencing steady growth that is expected to further strain campuses in the years to come. The enrollment has grown more than 30% over the past five years, he said.