Differing School Calendars Could Complicate City Athletics Scheduling

In the eyes of many coaches, already wobbly legged after weathering two tumultuous school years, the question is: “What next?”

The decision by the Los Angeles Unified School District board of education to allow high schools the autonomy to decide which academic calendar will be adopted for 1993-94 and beyond has drawn criticism from area high school coaches.

The worst-case scenario, they say, is a situation where schools from the same league are on different calendars.

The decision, made this week by the board, could create imbalances within league athletic programs. Though many of the details of the dual-calendar system may not be finalized until the end of the month, coaches already envision a series of problems with respect to athletics.

In the parlance of sport: Differences in the academic calendar will make for a less than level playing field.

“The board is afraid to make a dad gum decision,” said Darryl Stroh, the football and baseball coach at Granada Hills. “If we were a ship, we’d be on a rock. We have no rudder.

“This plan can’t work. How can anybody propose something so stupid?”

Basketball was the sport most affected by the move to the year-round calendar after the 1990-91 school year. Many games were played over the winter intersession break while students were on vacation.

Reseda boys’ basketball Coach Jeff Halpern, a member of the City’s Interscholastic Athletics Committee, said the imbalances created by the calendars might be substantial.

For instance, if Reseda reverts to the traditional nine-month (September-to-June) calendar, basketball players would be on campus during January and early February, when the intersession break takes place at year-round (August-to-June) campuses.

For the past two years, basketball players at City schools have been forced to practice and play over the winter intersession break, often in front of few fans because their classmates are not in school.

Furthermore, players at year-round schools who live in Los Angeles were bused to the Valley for weekday practices and games, sacrificing much of their winter vacation. The busing presumably would remain if schools chose to remain under the year-round calendar.

Halpern, who has threatened to resign as coach if the City again adopted the year-round calendar for 1993-94, said schools that use the traditional calendar might have a pronounced edge in basketball.

“Let’s say that Reseda goes to the traditional calendar and someone else stays with the (year-round),” he said. “That puts their kids at a big disadvantage. My kids would already be here every day.

“What kid would want to give up the vacation time and ride out here if he could play at school where he doesn’t have to?”

City Commissioner Hal Harkness said he anticipates that Valley schools will revert to the traditional calendar. If some choose to remain year-round, then the athletic picture could become “even more muddled.”

“Those programs that are in school (in the January-February time frame) will be vastly better than those that are not,” Harkness predicted.

Busing could be a major obstacle. Over the past two years, bused players were picked up at selected points in the L.A. Basin or elsewhere and driven to school during the intersession break for games and practices. Coaches bemoaned the logistics problems.

“There’s been no indication either way from the board as to whether they’d financially support (the cost of busing and related athletic expenditures) over the winter,” Harkness said.

As a result of the dual calendar, the summer break also would vary from school to school, which would affect football and basketball teams. Students attending schools on the year-round calendar report in mid-August. Students at schools on the traditional calendar report in early September.

Kennedy football Coach Bob Francola said he “wouldn’t be surprised” if Kennedy elected to remain on the year-round system because the school is air-conditioned.

Last summer, Kennedy football players first reported Aug. 3, which could give the team a substantial head start on teams adhering to the traditional calendar, which might revert to the two-a-day, “Hell Week” format used before the year-round calendar was instituted. Francola, for one, prefers coaching under the year-round plan.

“That means our players would be on campus a month before (those at schools on the traditional calendar) arrive for class,” Francola said. “I’ve really gotten to like the year-round. Kids are already here, on campus. It’s much easier to keep track of them.”

The uncertainty over whether the year-round calendar would be eliminated or upheld has put the City athletics office in limbo for months. Halpern said winter sports scheduling again has been delayed.

“We haven’t done anything,” he said. “We didn’t know which way they were going.”

Harkness said that he would like to move the boys’ and girls’ soccer season back into its original winter time frame. Last season, because of the intersession break in the year-round calendar, regular-season soccer games were completed in December and playoffs were held in January. It sometimes created facilities conflicts with football teams, Harkness said. Previously, the soccer season was played in January and February.

It is expected that most of the 17 district schools in the Valley will choose to revert to the traditional calendar. However, because faculty, administrators and parents may be polled regarding their calendar choice, anything could happen.

“There’s the potential for a lot of problems,” Taft boys’ basketball Coach Jim Woodard said. “But maybe things will all work out.”

* THE BACKGROUND

The Los Angeles Board of Education voted this week to grant the majority of its 49 high schools the autonomy to return to the traditional nine-month academic calendar. Schools have been on a year-round calendar for the past two school years, taking a six-week break in the summer and an eight-week break in the winter. However, since individual schools were authorized to decide which track will be adopted--virtually ensuring that some will retain the year-round calendar while some revert to the traditional--it could create imbalances on the athletic field, according to coaches.