Law Starts School Shopping Frenzy : Education: Open enrollment prompts families to pore over options. Some take another look at public institutions.

Throughout the Los Angeles Unified School District, parents are buzzing: Finally, they can enroll their children anywhere in the system regardless of where they live.

School shopping has become a full-time job for some parents, who are interviewing principals, attending classes and orientation meetings and collecting test scores. Even parents who were considering private schools are rethinking their options.

“This is the topic everywhere--at the park, at PTA meetings, if you run into a friend who has a 4-year-old. There is no one who doesn’t talk about this,” said Maggie Scott, a parent in the Miracle Mile area who is shopping for an elementary school for her son.

The Board of Education this week gave parents more freedom to choose a new school within the Los Angeles district--as long as racial balances remain intact and classroom seats are available. Under the new guidelines, parents no longer have to receive the principal’s permission before withdrawing children from their school and enrolling them elsewhere.

Although the open enrollment policy leaves families with some obstacles--especially the lack of space at many desirable schools--a great number of parents view it as a new lease on school life. Many parents have complained about low test scores, bad teachers, bilingual education hindering the progress of other students and campus violence but have been unable to move because of district red tape and a policy encouraging parents to stay with neighborhood schools.

Parents in some Orange County school districts also have been busy discussing how parental choice may change their schools.

“People here have been talking about it since Proposition 174 (mandating open enrollment) was proposed,” said Marilyn Buchi, a Fullerton Joint Union High School District trustee. “We’ve had some choices before, but not this wide open. People like this.”

The school choice program is just getting underway in the Capistrano Unified School District, which serves 32,000 students. According to district spokeswoman Jacqueline Price, 6% of the district’s students have requested to go to a school outside their neighborhood. She said that percentage is typical for large California school districts. Two schools, Aliso Niguel High in Aliso Viejo and the new John Malcom Elementary in Laguna Niguel, had more applicants than room. A lottery will be held to fill the openings.

In the Santa Ana and Irvine school districts, where open enrollment has been in place for at least 10 years, the passage of the school choice law last fall was met almost with indifference.

“What we will need to do is simply remind our parents that they have that option and make sure they’re aware of the different programs being offered in many of our schools,” said Diane Thomas, a spokeswoman for the Santa Ana Unified School District.

In Los Angeles, even before school offices received the bulletin outlining the open enrollment rules, campuses began fielding calls from parents. Schools primarily on the Westside and in the west San Fernando Valley are drawing the most attention.

Kristi Thomas, office manager at Tarzana Elementary School, said: “The parents seem to know more about this than we at the schools know.”

That may be because parents have made the open enrollment season their game, analyzing test scores, class sizes, even racial balances in search of an ideal, or at least acceptable, school. One parent attended a school play one night recently to check out the other parents.

“I’m totally consumed by this whole thing right now,” said Janet DiMartino, a Sherman Oaks parent who is looking at public and private schools for her son. “The range is just unbelievable.”

Nancy Broadsky, a parent from Encino, said: “I’ve gone to a lot of meetings. I’ve talked to five different principals. I’ve gone through the phone book and every source that I can.”

She has even put together her own comparative school guide highlighting the issues that are important to her: academic program, athletics and enrichment programs.

Principals say they are getting calls from parents whose children attend private schools and who are now considering enrolling them in public schools. DiMartino said she is treating public school as a more serious option now that open enrollment is possible.

The maze of enrollment policies and admission permits--and the dearth of guiding information from the school district--has left many parents frustrated. Some parents say they rely mostly on neighborhood rumor mills for information about one of the most important decisions they will make for their children.

“You are on your own and there is a great deal of confusion,” said Scott, the Miracle Mile mother. “What I would like to see from the district--although I am sure they will tell me there are a million reasons why it can’t be done--is a single document, a guide that outlines all the various ways you can go to a school, from day-care permits to magnet schools.”

Parent frustrations likely will grow as the school shopping frenzy reaches a peak after May 16, the day that schools will release their count of available slots and make applications available. Many of the schools that parents regard as most desirable will not have nearly enough space to satisfy demand.

District officials say they have the solution. Rather than traditional waiting lists, principals will hold lotteries to draw names of parents who want their children to attend a particular school. The state-mandated random drawings, scheduled for June 14, will be monitored by a three-member committee: the principal, a teacher and a parent.

But some highly sought-after schools may not get to the lottery stage. Principals at schools with high parent interest--Carpenter Avenue Elementary in Studio City, Third Street Elementary in Hancock Park and Welby Way in Canoga Park--say they likely will not have much space to begin with.

The state law that ordered school districts to allow open enrollment gives first priority for space to students who live in the neighborhood. Students who are bused for integration and to relieve overcrowding also have priority, along with students whose parents work or use day care in the area.

“I’m telling parents that the good news is there’s open enrollment; the bad news is we don’t have space,” said Joan Marks, the principal at Carpenter, where hundreds of parents typically show up for orientation meetings.

A few miles away, at Sherman Oaks Elementary School, Principal Ed Krojansky said he expects to have room for about 75 students. “This school does have a reputation for having a high-quality program so I was not surprised by the level of interest,” he said. “We welcome it and we’re ready.”

If the new enrollment policy is a boon to parents, it can also benefit schools. With more students, principals can hire more teachers, offer more classes and increase parent involvement. It also could improve morale.

“It gives us a nice boost that people are appreciating what we do,” said Linda Pacheco, principal at Germain Street School in Northridge.

Although some school board members have hailed open enrollment as a major step in education reform, others have expressed reservations. Board President Leticia Quezada said parents’ expectations have been raised too high and that excitement over the program could sour if parents are shut out of their first choices.

“The crux of this issue will be what schools are on the list and whether the available space matches the interest out in the parent community,” Quezada said. “If they don’t match, then we are going to have a lot of frustrated parents out there and I really want to minimize that.”

Because the open enrollment policy does not guarantee bus transportation, Quezada and others said options for some parents could be limited. “Unfortunately, parents in my district find themselves working two jobs. Often they don’t have cars to even transport them to work,” said Quezada, who represents parts of the Eastside and the northeast Valley. “They really don’t have a choice. Choice means nothing.”

Although district officials have estimated 50,000 openings in 500 schools, parents say they are skeptical about where those openings will be.

“The real question is: Is there really going to be any spots for choice applications in the best schools, in the schools everyone cares about?” asked Susan Bernard, a Westside parent. “It seems there is going to be a lot of space, but where?”

As board member Julie Korenstein put it: “I think it’s going to take at least a year before we see whether it was a real option or something on paper that just looked nice.”

The state law, authored by Assemblywoman Dede Alpert (D-Coronado), directed all school districts to adopt similar open enrollment guidelines. The law was sparked by the school voucher movement that offered parents tax credits to help offset private school tuition.

The policy does not apply to the magnet schools--where enrollment is by districtwide lottery of applicants on lengthy waiting lists--or charter schools, which operate independently of district regulations.

Times staff writer Lynn Franey contributed to this story.