Effort to Scrap Year-Round L.A. Schools Schedule Fails

Los Angeles school board member Julie Korenstein failed Thursday to get the board to commit itself to scrapping the year-round classroom calendar in favor of a return to the traditional September-to-June school year.

Korenstein, who represents much of the San Fernando Valley, won only a promise to consider such a move along with other options.

Although a majority of the seven-member board appeared to favor reverting to some sort of traditional schedule, key backers of a motion by Korenstein withdrew their support because they believed that approval would bind them to her version of a calendar and to a subsequent amendment brought forward by colleague Jeff Horton.

“I give up,” Korenstein said, throwing up her hands in frustration after an hour of discussion marked by sniping and testy exchanges between Korenstein and other board members.

Korenstein’s motion instructed Los Angeles school district staff to develop and submit a traditional calendar for adoption no later than May 3. But instead of calling for a vote on the motion, school board President Leticia Quezada directed Supt. Sid Thompson to produce “a menu” of options for the board to consider, including the traditional schedule envisioned by Korenstein.

The other options would be to stick with the year-round schedule, adopted amid acrimonious debate two years ago, or allow schools to decide for themselves which calendars best suit their needs.

For the past two years, about 450 of the district’s 650 schools have been on a calendar in which classes are held from August to June, with an eight-week break in the winter and a six-week break in the summer. The calendar has proved highly unpopular with parents, especially on the Westside and in the San Fernando Valley, because it infringes on summer vacation time and leaves children unoccupied for a long period in the winter.

The other 200 schools are on a multitrack system, with three-quarters of their students almost always in class and the other quarter on vacation, to deal with overcrowding on those campuses.