TUJUNGA : School to Start Phone Check on Homework

Math students at Verdugo Hills High School who claim that they have no homework may have to come up with a new excuse when an automated phone system is installed at their school early next year.

The system, which will allow parents to access recorded messages from teachers about daily homework assignments and upcoming tests, was funded from part of a three-year grant the school received from the state Board of Education to set up a math program called “Change From Within.”

The use of recorded messages for parents is familiar in Orange and Ventura counties, but Los Angeles school officials said Verdugo will become their only high school with such a system.

At first, the computerized system will be used by eight math teachers who are involved with “Change From Within,” which encourages students to reason together in groups to solve math problems. But administrators hope that the $20,000 system will eventually be used by every teacher at the school.

“One of the major problems we have is that parents want to know what homework the student has and the student says, ‘I don’t have any,’ ” said Carol Gorton, an assistant principal at the Tujunga school. “We’re hoping this will increase communication so the parents will feel more a part of their students’ education.”

When the phone system is in place--as early as January, administrators say--parents will receive an access code from each teacher that can be used to hear a two-minute message recorded in Spanish and English.

Yvonne Mojica, a math teacher at Verdugo Hills, said she believes that it may take teachers a while to get used to recording their messages every day. But she believes that the benefits of the system will be worth the efforts.

“Sometimes parents’ hours don’t match ours,” Mojica said. “This gives them an opportunity to find out the information at their own leisure. If we are able to keep parents better informed, they will be a better support for us.”