Strict School Offers Youths a Last Chance : Education: Campus at former jail forces expelled students into a highly regimented routine.

The debut of Mira Loma Community School three months ago in a former county jail in Lancaster was not auspicious. Into the glum setting marched seven students--there were supposed to be eight, but one had been arrested the night before--single file, with their hands behind their backs. All of them had been expelled from regular public schools.

Mira Loma is a last-chance school, the first in the county to force its troublesome students into a highly regimented routine that includes strict codes of conduct and dress.

All students attending Mira Loma, a joint project of the Los Angeles County Office of Education and the Antelope Valley Union High School District, are there voluntarily, hoping to earn the right to get back into regular schools.

On that first day, several of them were obviously unhappy about the uncompromising rules and about going to class in a place where the campus includes razor wire and barred windows.

“When we were sitting back there,” said Jim (the students’ real names are not used in this article), “we were thinking of ways to bust out.”

But Jim is still there, as are four others in the original group. And they have been joined by many others. At a time of year when most high schools have just held graduation ceremonies, Mira Loma is busy processing applications and dealing with a waiting list.

About 30 students are now enrolled in Mira Loma, some of whom are earning A’s and Bs instead of the failing marks they used to get.

“At first I wanted to drop out, go kicking it with the homeboys,” said Bill, a 17-year-old expelled from Littlerock High School for a weapons-related violation. “Now I’m hanging in here. I’m going to make it.”

Like many of the stories at Mira Loma, Bill’s tale, although heartening, is not entirely positive.

Scott Schaufele, the school’s teacher, says Bill has maintained his gang contacts.

“He’s hanging out with the gangsters,” Schaufele said. “He’s a straight-up gangster. But he wants to be a veterinarian. He’s coming here and seeing he can be something else. Let’s face it, you can’t determine if what you’re doing is going to pay off in five years. But I’m seeing some kids who are having a different world view. I can’t tell you they’re going to graduate from USC next week, but we are turning kids around.”

Mira Loma does have its first success story.

Richard was expelled from regular school in February for drug possession. He was one of the original Mira Loma students. As of last week, he had earned enough good grades and behavior points to return to a regular high school.

At a short ceremony at Mira Loma, Schaufele presented Richard with a certificate, to the applause of the other students.

“Your attitude has changed tremendously,” Schaufele told him. “You’ve come a long way. Good job.”

Getting to this point was not easy for Richard, as he is the first to admit. “It’s not really fun,” the teen-ager said of Mira Loma. “It’s still school.”

At the time he was expelled, Richard was receiving Cs and Ds. In order to earn his certificate at Mira Loma, he had to maintain at least a C average.

More difficult for many of the students is the school’s behavior point system. They can earn up to 38 points a day by adhering to the dress code--white golf shirts, blue jeans (not baggy), white tennis shoes with white shoelaces, no dangling earrings--and by exhibiting acceptable behavior. That means getting to school on time, no talking except during class discussions, no gum chewing, no profanity, no pens (only pencils are allowed). Points can be taken away for violating the rules.

Students who earn at least 172 of a possible 190 points each week can be eligible to re-enter a regular school at the end of their expulsion period.

Richard believes that Mira Loma’s strictness has made him more able to deal with school. But some of the students said the regimentation, which includes random searches and silently marching to and from class every day with hands behind backs, is demeaning.

“When you go to the bathroom, you have someone watching you, which is annoying,” said Randy, a 16-year-old expelled from Palmdale High School because he was carrying a knife.

Some students, unable to cope with the regimen, drop out of Mira Loma. Three were kicked out for repeatedly breaking the rules.

“We’ll try to work with them, but when you start crossing the line and saying, ‘How many inches can I go over it?’ ” said Mira Loma Principal Sheldon Epstein, “we’re not going to allow it.”

Schaufele’s willingness to listen to whatever opinions are voiced is one of his biggest strengths, according to several students.

“He doesn’t put me down,” Diane said. “All of the other teachers I’ve had put me down.”

Not that Diane, 16, is teacher’s pet. A few minutes later, Schaufele caught her chatting with two other students during a study period. “That’s 2 points,” he said severely, drawing an exasperated look from Diane. And he deducted 2 points from the totals of the other two students as well.

But Diane is willing to stand the strict rules, barred windows and razor wire if it means she is being given a second chance. For her, this is not punishment. It’s an opportunity.

“It’s not a prison, it’s a school,” she said. “It may be close to a prison, built from a prison, but it’s a school.”