Fewer Aim for Academic Team; ’92 Furor Blamed

San Gabriel High School’s summer class for the Academic Decathlon team drew half as many students this year as last, a precipitous drop that comes after a bitter debate about the all-Asian makeup of the 1992-93 team.

In December, at an Alhambra School District board meeting, Vice President Dora Padilla touched off a controversy by saying that the high school’s decathlon team does not reflect the 3,200-student enrollment of the school, which is 44% Asian, 43% Latino, 9% Anglo and 4% other. Padilla also said parents had complained to her that decathlon coaches did not encourage or recruit non-Asian students for the team.

The decathlon team’s nine members are drawn from the free summer school class, based on their scores in a battery of tests.

Decathlon coach Julie Rivera attributed this year’s enrollment drop to the furor surrounding Padilla’s remarks.

“I’m sure the kids don’t want to go out for the team when they know they’re going to be bashed by a (school) board member,” Rivera said.

She added that the enrollment decline is the first since the program began in 1988. Padilla disagreed.

“She’s entitled to her opinion, but . . . that’s really far out,” Padilla said.

The decathlon is a high-pressure academic contest in which students cram on an assigned topic for an eventual showdown with teams from other schools.

Padilla made her remarks about last year’s team at a board meeting in which students were recognized for their third-place regional trophy and ninth-place Los Angeles County finish.

In response to Padilla’s comments, the Chinese-American Parents & Teachers Assn. of Southern California demanded an apology and asked the board member for suggestions on how to change the team’s recruitment process.

In February, Padilla wrote letters of apology to each team member and issued a statement saying that she only had wished to encourage more students to try out.

This year’s orientation and sign-up session drew about 50 students, compared with more than 100 last year, Rivera said. The class, which meets from June 24 to Aug. 4, includes an ethnically diverse group of students, as did last year’s, she said.

Rivera said she recruited potential team members the same way as always. She began in March, posting flyers on bulletin boards and asking counselors and teachers for recommendations. She sent letters to recommended students, inviting them to sign up for the class, which meets from 8 a.m. to noon, Mondays through Fridays.

Last year, Rivera received 300 recommendations; this year, she got 400.