Evening High School at Risk for Lack of Interest : Education: Plan for night classes was created as a solution to crowding, but students are hesitant to embrace the change.

The proposed Evening High School program--hailed when it was announced last year as an innovative solution to overcrowded schools--is in danger of being canceled if more students do not enroll.

Deadline for enrollment is May 15, but so far less than half the minimum of 200 students needed for the program have signed up, school officials said Thursday.

The enrollment figure “has not been as high as we had hoped or anticipated,” Deputy Supt. Don Empey said. “Still, we’re hoping that it will be. If we don’t do it now, we can try next year.”

Evening High School was expected to open at Glendale High with a separate name, principal, staff and student body using the campus from 2 to 9 p.m. on school days, starting in September.

The Evening High School’s principal, Don Duncan, staged a vigorous recruitment campaign, speaking at every high school and middle school classroom in the district and meeting several times with parents.

But despite Duncan’s best efforts, Empey said, some students in the district seemed hesitant about attending a school that, among other differences, offers no interscholastic sports because of its hours.

“It’s new and different and people are not used to going to school in the late afternoon and evening,” he added. “They may not want to separate themselves from their friends.”

Duncan was out of town Thursday and could not be reached for comment.

The concept of late-night classes has thrived in such places as Lacey, Wash., but is rare in California. Jeanne Bentley, president of the Glendale Board of Education, visited Lacey’s New Century High School and came away impressed.

“It was a very nurturing environment. The students said, ‘Everyone knows us . . . and we get all the good jobs in the daytime.’ I frankly would be very disappointed should it not work out” in Glendale, she said.

If the evening school doesn’t work out, Empey said the district may consider extending classes at Glendale High School by three periods, allowing some students to end their day about 6 p.m. Or the district may go on a year-round schedule for high schools.