ANAHEIM : 3 Schools May Join Year-Round Schedule

In its ongoing battle against overcrowded schools, the Anaheim City School District has proposed placing three more campuses on a year-round schedule beginning July 1 under a plan to be considered by the Board of Education tonight.

If the board places Patrick Henry, Francis Scott Key and John Marshall elementary schools on a year-round calendar, 12 of the district’s 21 campuses would be on that schedule.

Supt. Meliton Lopez said the three schools are overcrowded and the district has to either put them on a year-round calendar or erect portable classrooms.

“And I believe that year-round education is a good education,” he said.

Henry, Key and Marshall parents who prefer their children to remain on the traditional September-through-June academic year will have the option of transferring their children to a traditional calendar school, Lopez said.

Overcrowding in the 14,900-student district is forcing the change to a year-round calendar. The elementary school district, which includes grades K-6, has seen its enrollment increase by 18% in the past three years. District officials estimate that placing a school on a year-round calendar will increase the number of students that can be taught there by about 25%.

The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. at Adelaide Price School, 1516 W. North St.