Valley Commentary : Grads Step...

It rained on El Camino Real High School’s prom night.

That didn’t dampen the spirits of one group of graduates of the Woodland Hills school posing in front of a limousine. As the parents eyed the darkening sky nervously, the girls pinned boutonnieres on their dates and checked their hair in the car mirrors. The boys grinned, fumbled with corsages and slapped one another on the back. Except for the showers, it was perfect.

But clouds have been following this class. The students have been at the mercy of arbitrary school board decisions, bureaucratic foul-ups and, literally, death and destruction.

Just as they began their high school careers, the Los Angeles Unified School District began an experiment in year-round schooling. The students were forced to cut short their summer, have eight weeks off in the middle of a two-semester course and miss weeks of preparation for the Scholastic Aptitude and advanced placement tests.

Even though they attended what some called a country club school, there was little air conditioning for those hot August days, and most students could not afford vacations to fancy resorts. Most of the time they sat home, watching soap operas, occasionally opening a book, trying to stay out of trouble.

The next year, during the winter recess, two of their classmates were killed in accidents--one in a car accident, the other in a flood. Many students attended the funerals. For most of them, it was the first experience with death, and they turned to one another to deal with their grief.

As the senior year approached, the school board voted to end the experiment with year-round schooling. The parents breathed a sigh of relief. College application deadlines were approaching. Letters of recommendation needed to be written. At last, the class of 1994 would have an uninterrupted school year.

But the worst was yet to come. Last summer, Judy Harrison, the El Camino Real college counselor, was reported missing. The private plane piloted by her husband never arrived at its destination. The students were devastated. Besides being a wonderful and knowledgeable college counselor, she was someone they could count on to help them with schedules, applications, recommendation letters and advice.

At school, registration was chaotic. Schedules were wrong. Lunch passes were delayed. Tempers were short. Somehow the students made it through those first few weeks. They persevered and pressured administrators to write letters to colleges explaining about their counselor. They found other teachers to write letters of recommendation. They took their problems to new and often overworked counselors who listened and helped them.

Then came Jan. 17. El Camino was heavily damaged in the Northridge earthquake. At first the students were thrilled. First semester finals were canceled, a senior’s dream come true. But as the weeks dragged by and El Camino still didn’t open, anxiety set in. Advanced placement study sessions were eventually scheduled in a few usable classrooms. Portable buildings were moved to the athletic fields. Finally, El Camino opened for the second semester, the last school in the district to reopen.

Normalcy seemed to be restored. The days were somewhat longer, and a one-day spring break went by in the blink of an eye. The students enthusiastically planned their grad night and prom. In reality, senior year, with its lumps and bumps, was a fitting culmination to the four years.

At graduation Thursday night, the portable buildings, still standing on the athletic fields, were a grim reminder of all that has happened. The students walked by with their heads high, cheered as a handful of classmates threw beachballs and toys in the air, and moved on with their lives.