Schools Still Offer Transfer Possibilities

Applications for parents to transfer their children to Los Angeles public schools that do not follow a year-round schedule and are not in their own neighborhoods are due Sept. 16.

The district’s new open enrollment policy allows parents to place their child in any school in the district, as long as there is space to accommodate the child and that child does not displace another student living in a school’s attendance area.

Parents should contact each school individually to find out if there are any spaces available or if a child can be placed on a waiting list.

Some schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District begin class Monday, but the open enrollment deadline remains Sept. 16.

Cleveland High School in Reseda was identified as having 200 extra spaces at the end of last school year, and has so far accepted more than 50 students seeking open enrollment transfers, Assistant Principal Warren Mason said.

Until school is actually in session, Mason said, no one will know exactly how many students have transferred in or out of the school because of the new enrollment policy.

“It’s up in the air until it’s all over,” Mason said of the enrollment process.

Chatsworth High School has a waiting list of more than 50 students seeking to enroll there after filling all of its 200 slots in June.

“The problem is students can apply at more than one school, so we have no way of knowing if the students are coming here unless they come and tell us,” said Donna Wyatt, assistant principal at Chatsworth High School.

“When school opens we’ll see who didn’t show up and then we have to call those on the waiting list.

For more information about the application process, call the district’s Office of School Utilization at (213) 625-6414.