Expelled Students to Attend Class at Old Mira Loma Jail

Students expelled from local high schools will be allowed to take classes at the abandoned Mira Loma Jail under a plan approved Tuesday by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

Antelope Valley Union High School District officials had pushed for the use of the old jail, hoping that the facility’s grim surroundings would scare wayward kids straight.

“This will have a tremendous visual impact on the kids there,” said district Trustee Bill Olenick.

The proposal approved by the supervisors calls for the county, which owns the jail site, to provide classroom space to the high school district within 30 days.

The district will pay no rent, but the agreement is subject to cancellation at any time in case the facility is needed for other purposes.

In the past, Supervisor Mike Antonovich has suggested that the jail could be used as a detention center for illegal immigrants before their expulsion from the United States. Other officials have said that because of an increase in the number of prisoners due to the “three strikes” legislation, Mira Loma might be forced to reopen.

The jail was closed last year because of county budget cuts.

The Antelope Valley district will likely have plenty of students to send to Mira Loma. Because of its tough “zero tolerance” policy on major offenses, Antelope Valley schools expelled 200 students last year. School officials have said they were uncomfortable having the former students wandering the streets.

Olenick said many of those former students would do anything to get back into school, even if the school is in an old jail.

Antonovich, who introduced the measure to the supervisors, said the use of Mira Loma as a last-chance school was a good way to reintroduce the students to the mainstream.

“It’s an opportunity to give these kids a second chance,” Antonovich said. “If they fail, then at least the community gave them that second chance.”

The facility has space for about 100 youths, Olenick said.