Earthquake: The Long Road Back : District Hopes to Reopen High Schools by Feb. 15 : Education: State speeds up timetable to deliver portable classrooms to El Camino Real and Kennedy campuses.

Los Angeles school district officials said Thursday that they have been assured by the state that portable classrooms will be installed at El Camino Real and John F. Kennedy high schools in time to open both campuses Feb. 15.

District officials had predicted that both schools would not reopen until March, but the state--which is providing the portable classrooms to the district--has speeded up its timetable for delivering the bungalows.

And although school district officials have liberalized transfer rules for the 5,000 students at Kennedy and El Camino, they said Thursday that they expect 95% of the students will wait for their regular school to reopen.

“This is a temporary situation to provide flexibility to reduce the anxiety and tension on the students and their families,” Associate Supt. Dan Isaacs said. “I would say that at least 95% of the students . . . will remain together.”

Area schools reported dozens of inquiries from parents who said they would not wait to send their children to school, although only a handful have so far made a switch.

“The flood gates have been opened but the water is not coming through,” said Ronald Berz, principal at Taft High School in Woodland Hills. “We have had a lot of inquiries and right now we were able to accommodate and program those students that came in today. The parents seem very happy that they’re getting their kids in a school setting.”

Twelve students from El Camino have so far enrolled at Taft, Berz said. Because phone lines are still down at El Camino, his office has fielded more than 60 calls from parents inquiring about transfer procedures.

Granada Hills High School enrolled five Kennedy students Thursday and registered three the day before, Granada Hills Principal Kathleen Rattay said.

District officials said Wednesday that students displaced by the quake may transfer to any Los Angeles Unified school that has room for them, although the district will not add bus routes to displaced students. Students who switch are expected to finish the semester at the new school, then return to their regular school in the fall.

“I have a feeling that quite a few are considering it,” said Dick Browning, director of the district’s senior high school division. “We’re not promoting this as a primary solution to the problem, we’re offering it as a possible solution for some individual situations.”

Officials in Las Virgenes Unified and other surrounding districts said their classrooms are already full, so they are unable to accept students even if Los Angeles officials were willing to allow their students to leave.

State law allows students to transfer to another district only with the permission of their home district and only if the district they choose has room for them.

Shortly after the quake struck Jan. 17, several nearby districts called and offered to help Los Angeles find room for its displaced students. However, the offers were for classroom space for the big district to use, not for students to transfer into.

Likewise, many private schools in the San Fernando Valley area said they already are full.

Isaacs also announced that Van Gogh Street School students will be relocated to Frost Middle School and that classes will start there Feb. 15. An orientation meeting for parents will be held at Frost on Feb. 14.

The district is conducting a geological study of the soil under Van Gogh because the earthquake left cracks and fissures throughout the campus.

The district is also busing about 160 children from Red Cross shelters to their local schools, Isaacs said.

“My own feeling is that we want to do the best we can to accommodate students who have been traumatized or who need this kind of support system,” said Rattay, at Granada Hills High. “On the other hand, for most students, it would probably be best to be patient, wait until Kennedy opens, be with their friends and the teachers they know.”

Times staff writer Jean Merl contributed to this story.