L.A. Unified: New Magnet Deadline

The Los Angeles Unified School District has extended the deadline for applications to its expanded magnet school program to June 3.

The school board expanded the program May 2 to help alleviate long waiting lists and offer a wider choice of schools. The expansion is expected to create 24 new magnet centers and will accommodate nearly 8,000 more students in the program, said district officials.

The South Bay area will have two new centers for the 1994-95 school year, one at Curtiss Middle School in Carson and one at Wright Middle School in Westchester. The existing magnet program at San Pedro Marine Science High School will expand to include ninth-grade students.

Students who applied before the original deadline of April 15 but who wish to be considered for the new locations must reapply, officials said.

This year, the district received more than 40,000 applications. The program has 9,500 openings.

Created in the late 1970s in response to pressure to desegregate the district, magnet classes specialize in particular subjects, are smaller and tend to produce higher test scores, officials said. The program now has 108 centers and schools, and serves nearly 37,000 students in the district.