District Relaxes Some Summer School Policies

With hundreds of students unable to attend summer school because of the bus strike, city school officials adopted a new policy Wednesday allowing students to make up class assignments and tests or to drop a course without getting a failing grade.

Los Angeles Unified School District officials said in approving the change that students should not be penalized because of the strike.

Previously, students who miss more than three days of summer school without valid excuses would get an “F” grade.

“This is considered an emergency,” said Doris Dillard, the district’s summer school coordinator. “It’s not something the students, their parents or the district has control over. It’s having a tremendous impact on the lives of the students and their parents.”

David Clinton can vouch for that. The 18-year-old Canoga Park resident--who is taking English and biology courses at Monroe High School--said the bus strike has left him stranded.

Trouble is, Clinton needs the courses to graduate.

“I’ve tried looking for rides as much as I could,” Clinton said. “I even thought of borrowing a bike but I couldn’t and it’s too far. This is real hard.”

Clinton, who had been taking two buses to get to the North Hills campus, returned to Monroe on Wednesday after he persuaded his aunt to drive him. “I just wanted a ride one day to see what work I could make up,” Clinton said.

But he said he does not know when he will be able to return. “The longer the strike goes on, the less chance I’ll be able to finish,” he said.

District officials do not know the exact number of students who depend on MTA buses. But an informal district survey showed there are hundreds of students who cannot attend classes because of the strike, officials said.

District officials said that in a single day about 200 students were absent from Fairfax High School, another 120 from Lincoln High and 50 pupils were missing from Van Nuys High because of the strike.

Summer school, which began July 5 and ends on Aug. 12, typically is attended by students taking remedial or enrichment courses. Many of the students need to earn the course credits for graduation. Under district policy, students can attend summer school at any campus, regardless of where they live.

Because the program is just six weeks, officials said absences typically result in students being dropped from their courses.

“This year there have been so many disasters that have affected our children,” Dillard said. “Earthquakes, fires . . . this is just another one of these things and it’s not their fault.”

Abel Lara, a 16-year-old Pacoima resident taking English at Monroe High, said he is concerned about losing the classwork he completed during the first three weeks of the program. “I brought my grade up from a fail to a ‘C,’ ” Abel said. “Now I can’t go and I won’t get the credits.”

Abel, who has been home since Monday, said he has no way of getting to the campus. His mother said the family has one car, and her husband--who works nights--does not get home until 8 a.m.

“It really has me upset,” said Ruth Lara, Abel’s mother. “It was his idea to go and make up a class he failed. Before you know it, graduation’s going to come up and he won’t be able to finish.”

Abel said he has enjoyed the ninth-grade English class, as well as the new students he has met at Monroe. “I miss going there,” he said. “It was pretty fun. The teacher was nice--if we had any problems, she helped us.”

Joe Walker, the summer school assistant principal at Francis Polytechnic High in Sun Valley, said he is concerned that attendance could drop off more as the strike wears on. He said students who have managed to secure rides now might not be able to continue. “We’re really concerned about it,” Walker said. “We hope it gets resolved and soon.”