NO SCHOOL, BUT: Nearly 60% of L....

NO SCHOOL, BUT: Nearly 60% of L. A.’s public school students have the day off today and Friday, coinciding with the Jewish new year. But a school official insisted, “This is not a religious matter so much as a logistical” move to avoid paying substitutes for teachers attending services. “We are extremely sensitive to church-state issues and are assured that there is a legitimate, secular basis for this action,” a school district lawyer said . . . Schools close Good Friday for the same reason.

WINNING SICK: Chris Shinnick of El Camino Real High wasn’t really up to playing football Wednesday, being sick and hurt . . . All he did was have the game of his life against North Hollywood, scoring four touchdowns and rushing for 180 yards in the Conquistadores’ 49-14 victory (C10).

PICTURE HOPE: What can kids learn through a lens? If they live in a North Hollywood shelter for the homeless, they learn self-worth through an unusual program that supplies them with cameras and encourages them to document their lives so they will understand how important they are (B1) . . . Above, Blanca, 13, helps the youngest participant, 4-year-old Anna.

NOT A PRAYER: That national campaign by evangelical Christian groups to get high school students to pray at their school flagpoles fizzled in the Valley. At Burbank High, 16 people appeared--only six of them students there. At El Camino Real High, only the vice president of the school’s Christian club turned out (B4). . . The Burbank principal says next year she’ll consider whether the event violates church-state laws.

TWIN TOWERS: Best cure for sibling rivalry? Becoming teammates. Twins Janette and Carrie Penfield, who bickered constantly in junior high, have reconciled adolescent differences and now anchor the Thousand Oaks High volleyball team (C12). . . . The players are being courted by numerous Division I colleges.