37 Schools Selected to Pioneer Reform Effort

The Los Angeles Board of Education gave the go-ahead Monday for 37 schools--17 of them in the San Fernando Valley--to become pioneers in what is hoped will be a major reform movement in the district.

Thirty elementary schools, three junior high schools, two special education schools, a primary school and a children’s center were selected for the first phase of the LEARN plan after principals, parents and an overwhelming majority of teachers agreed to participate.

Supt. Sid Thompson and school board members said they remain disappointed that no high schools are represented in the mix, but they will continue to encourage high school participation in the second phase.

Also, Thompson pointed out the final selection of schools falls short of the board’s original vision for LEARN, which called for the participation of whole complexes, each made up of a high school and its feeder elementary and junior high campuses.

“We will take these as a nucleus and begin to form the complexes from these committed schools,” Thompson said.

The reform plan--devised by Los Angeles Educational Alliance for Restructuring Now, a coalition of business, civic and education leaders--gives principals authority over virtually every aspect of campus management, although they must make decisions in concert with teachers, parents and other school employees. Schools will be responsible for their own budgets and all sides will work together to set educational goals.

The 37 schools will begin to undergo training this summer in new budgeting and school-site decision-making practices.

Of the LEARN finalists, 19 have predominantly Latino students, four are primarily African-American and 13 are predominantly Anglos. The demographics of one school was unknown.

Seventeen schools are located in the Valley, while only one school is in the East Los Angeles area and one is in the Wilmington-San Pedro area. The remainder are in South Los Angeles and the Hollywood-Los Feliz area.

“By and large these schools tend to represent who the school district population is,” said school board President Leticia Quezada.

The list of schools was whittled down from more than 100 applicants. The deciding factor for many was whether 75% of their teachers agreed to participate.

The reform drive suffered a setback three weeks ago when teachers union leaders voted against supporting the plan unless it incorporated teachers’ rights. Many schools backed out, including the only high school.

LEARN School Nominees

Of the 100 Los Angeles Unified School District campuses that initially volunteered to participate in the first phase of the LEARN program, district officials recommended 37 for approval by the Board of Education. They are:

ELEMENTARY * Anatola Avenue, Van Nuys Principal: Kiyo Fukumoto Enrollment: 380 * Annalee Avenue, Carson Principal: James Abbott Enrollment: 440 * Apperson Street, Sunland Principal: Ann Carnes Enrollment: 610 * Bryson Avenue, South Gate Principal: Donald A. Fisher Enrollment: 1,350 * Carthay Center, Los Angeles Principal: Wayne S. Moore Enrollment: 550 * Carpenter Avenue, Studio City Principal: Joan Marks Enrollment: 946 * Cowan Avenue, Los Angeles Principal: Joyce Dixon Enrollment: 400 * Fernangeles, Sun Valley Principal: Elisabeth Douglass Enrollment: 1,080 * Fishburn Avenue, Maywood Principal: Ophelia Valdez Enrollment: 1,200 * Franklin Avenue, Los Angeles Principal: Verna B. Dauterive Enrollment: 550 * Harrison, Los Angeles Principal: Michael J. Jeffers Enrollment: 1,070 * Hawaiian Avenue, Wilmington Principal: Tommye D. Keenan Enrollment: 1,400 * Hillcrest, Los Angeles Principal: Carole Gentry Enrollment: 1,122 * Hyde Park Boulevard, Los Angeles Principal: Mattye P. Fegan Enrollment: 1,200 * Ivanhoe, Los Angeles Principal: Donald Brath Enrollment: 360 * Lemay Street Children’s Center, Van Nuys Principal: Imelda Foley Enrollment: 141 * Lemay Street, Van Nuys Principal: Connie Gibson Enrollment: 342 * Maclay Primary Center, Pacoima Principal: Giovanna Foschetti Enrollment: 220 * Morningside, San Fernando Principal: Vicki Montez Enrollment: 1,065 * Nueva Vista, Bell Principal: Carol Heard Enrollment: 1,200 * Overland Avenue, Los Angeles Principal: Suzanne L. Di Julio Enrollment: 505 * Roscoe, Sun Valley Principal: Ruth Bunyan Enrollment: 879 * San Fernando Principal: Candida T. Fernandez Enrollment: 1,100 * San Miguel Avenue, South Gate Principal: Jorge Garcia Enrollment: 1,490 * Sunland Principal: Nancy Kennedy Enrollment: 549 * Topanga Principal: Steve Friedman Enrollment: 311 * Van Gogh, Granada Hills Principal: Maureen S. Diekmann Enrollment: 359 * Walnut Park, Huntington Park Principal: Ricardo Sosapavon Enrollment: 1,122 * Welby Way and Magnet, Canoga Park Principal: Glenda M. Edler. Enrollment: 782 total * Wonderland, Los Angeles Principal: Rebecca O. Clough Enrollment: 426 * Woodland Hills Principal: Bob Romer Enrollment: 509 * Woodlawn Avenue, Bell Principal: Katherine H. Swank Enrollment: 1,250

MIDDLE SCHOOLS * Foshay, Los Angeles Principal: Howard M. Lappin Enrollment: 2,100 * Parkman, Woodland Hills Principal: Michael Bennett Enrollment: 1,150 * Patrick Henry, Granada Hills Principal: Linda Lane Enrollment: 963

SPECIAL SCHOOLS * Frances Blend Special Education, Los Angeles Principal: Joy Efron Enrollment: 130 * Marlton Special Education, Los Angeles Principal: Gloria Lopez Enrollment: 310 Source: Los Angeles Unified School District’s LEARN program; schools listed. Compiled by researcher Tracy Thomas