BREA : District to Consider Year-Round Schools

Year-round schools may soon be a reality in the Brea-Olinda Unified School District.

With only six elementary schools, a junior high school, a senior high school and a population of a little more than 5,000 students, Brea-Olinda is one of the smallest districts in Orange County.

However, overcrowding, which has plagued bigger school districts, may soon be a problem in Brea-Olinda as well.

At least two elementary schools--Arovista and Mariposa--are expected to be overcrowded by the 1993-94 school year, district officials say.

Anticipating similar problems in other district schools, school trustees formed a committee last year to look into alternatives to ease crowding.

Last week, the committee came back with a recommendation to adopt the middle-school concept and a year-round schedule as the most viable options.

However, reflecting the potential for disagreement on the options, the committee--composed of school administrators, employees, teachers and parents--presented the board with a majority and minority report.

There was no immediate action by the board, and none was expected.

Adoption of a year-round school schedule and the middle-school concept is at least five years away, officials said.

Committee member John Saunders, who presented the majority report, said the district is left with few options because of the tough economic times.

“New construction at a current school site is not a tenable solution,” he said. “The school district must evaluate alternative school scheduling and consolidation before becoming eligible to even request construction funds.”

Saunders said that year-round schools have been found to be very successful in other districts.

“Although principals did not like it much because it’s like managing several schools at the same time, students, parents and teachers have liked the idea,” he said.

Saunders said year-round schools could be implemented without lowering academic standards.

However, another committee member, William Workman, disagreed.

In his minority report, Workman said it has not been established that year-round schools improve education.

There are more beginnings and endings during the school year that break the sequencing and continuity of instruction.

Combination classes are increased, and a more basic curriculum has to be written, he said.

In addition, Workman said the year-round schedule accelerates wear on facilities.

Year-round schools also cost more to operate, and families are impacted because children could go on different tracks and disrupt their day-to-day activities, he said.

Workman said he favored adopting the middle-school concept, but two other committee members, Cathy Hefferman and Robyn Bjorlund, said they were opposed.

“We’re hurrying our children to grow up (in putting sixth-graders together with seventh- and eighth-graders),” Hefferman said. “Society as it is, we’ll be rushing our sixth-graders to keep up with the older kids.”

However, Hefferman acknowledged that her objection, and those of parents she talked to, were more “emotional than logical.”

She said it might be because the committee did not discuss a model to follow.

Board President Lynn Daucher said it was not the intention for the committee to work out a model.

“We’ll leave it to the experts,” she said. “What we wanted was to look into various alternatives to possible overcrowding.”