ORANGE COUNTY IN BANKRUPTCY : Short on Cash, Several Districts Will Cancel Intersession Classes

Several school districts in the county have decided to cancel intersession programs scheduled at year-round schools to avoid spending their scarce cash on hand.

Intersession is similar to summer school, with remedial classes for students who need extra help, plus extracurricular activities such as music, art and computer classes.

While acknowledging that the districts would be reimbursed later by the state for the programs, officials with the Cypress, Magnolia and Anaheim City districts said they don’t know whether they will have the cash when it is needed to pay salaries, operating costs and supplies.

Anaheim City has been hit doubly hard by the bankruptcy because it must grapple with an enrollment increase of about 10% in the current and coming school years.

“Our plan to house those students can work only if every teacher” shares a classroom, said Supt. Meliton Lopez. “In the past we always had an empty classroom or two at each school. Now every room is filled, and we don’t have space for intersession.”

The district had planned to lease or buy portable classrooms to accommodate the additional students, but the county bankruptcy has eliminated that option for now, Lopez said.

Lawrence Spaulding, principal at Landell Elementary School in Cypress, said the school staff has worked hard to keep the impact of the bankruptcy away from the classroom. For many parents and students, cancellation of the intersession programs that were scheduled to begin March 17 will be the first cut felt.

“It’s going to make some people realize we are in a crunch,” Spaulding said. “We haven’t had that here yet. This will be the first biggie.”