Opening the Door for Taft

If Taft High wins its first City Section 4-A Division football championship on Friday night at the Coliseum, give partial credit to the State Legislature for passing Assembly Bill 1114 four years ago.

The bill is known as the open-enrollment law, and it allows students to attend any public school in their district when space is available.

No school in the L.A. Unified School District has been affected more by the state law than Taft. The Woodland Hills school has taken in at least 350 open-enrollment students each year since the law took effect during the 1994-95 academic year. More than one-third of the school’s 2,961 students attend Taft through open enrollment.

The law was created to encourage neighborhood schools to improve academics and other programs or face the possibility that students might choose to leave for a better school.

No one knew for sure what kind of impact the law would have on sports programs--until now.

The results are in, and Taft’s football program is an example of how open enrollment can transform a team into an all-star troop.

Twenty-nine of Taft’s 36 football players live outside the school’s boundaries. Sixteen are open-enrollment students, including many of the star players: Running back Marquis Brignac, quarterback Steve Alvarado, linebackers Tyler Brennan and David Melo, linemen Chris Garlington, Clint Evans and Ken Davillier, and defensive back Airabin Justin.

Taft also is receiving students under the district’s Permit With Transportation busing program and from four schools that are overcrowded--Van Nuys, North Hollywood, Huntington Park and Poly. More than 700 students are bused to Taft, creating one of the most diverse student populations in the Valley.

Taft Coach Troy Starr rightfully points out that his program was good before open enrollment began. The Toreadors were 9-5 and 10-2 in two seasons under Starr and top assistant Frank Grossman.

But Taft’s large open-enrollment talent pool has clearly given a boost to the football team. The Toreadors are 12-0 this season, were 13-1 last season and are 61-12-1 during Starr’s six years as head coach.

“Yeah, we’ve prospered from it. There’s no doubt about it,” Starr said. “The success of our program sells itself, just like the Van Nuys Medical Magnet.”

Starr was among few coaches to enthusiastically endorse open enrollment back in 1994. He knew it empowered parents to make school choices and he wasn’t afraid if someone decided to leave his program.

Other coaches strongly criticized open enrollment, fearing it would lead to more recruiting and create an uneven playing field.

In the City Section, it is uneven. Schools that are filled to capacity don’t have open enrollment. But schools with classroom space like Taft, El Camino Real and Chatsworth can take in students from across the Valley.

“There are kids who live in our area but go to other schools, and that’s fine,” Starr said. “We gain them and we lose them. I’m a strong proponent of freedom of choice. If Frank Grossman and I work our butts off and do everything we can to make our program successful, why should we be criticized?”

Open enrollment gave Taft and schools like it advantages long enjoyed only by private schools. Public-school coaches always complained how Notre Dame in Sherman Oaks and Crespi in Encino would steal their neighborhood athletes living in West Hills, Chatsworth or Van Nuys, for example. Open enrollment made Taft a viable alternative.

The law couldn’t have taken effect at a better time for Taft, which gained favorable publicity after winning the national academic decathlon in 1994. Taft was able to sell academics and athletics.

Open enrollment hasn’t only helped football at Taft. Among the school’s star open-enrollment athletes are volleyball player Joe Nargi, boys’ basketball players Brandyn Fisher and Harold Shevlin, sprinter Ebony Grayson, girls’ basketball player Tynisha Howze and baseball player Mitch Spector.

One fear about open enrollment that hasn’t materialized was that top seniors-to-be on weaker teams would switch schools en masse to play on championship teams with the hope of improving their college scholarship chances.

Taft has picked up two high-profile, open-enrollment transfers in four seasons. Linebacker Clay Carter transferred from El Camino Real in 1994 and linebacker Melo came over from Van Nuys this year.

The majority of open-enrollment players at Taft came in as little-known freshmen and sophomores and were developed by Starr and his staff.

It hasn’t been easy molding a team together of teenagers from all parts of the city. Transportation is just one of the problems.

“It’s a challenge taking kids from Pacoima to Woodland Hills to Watts and making them into a football team,” Starr said. “They’re not brought up together. There’s no loyalty. You have to teach them.”

Some coaches aren’t happy when they lose neighborhood kids to open enrollment, but it’s state law, and right now Taft is the school of choice in the Valley.

*

Eric Sondheimer’s local column appears Wednesday and Sunday. He can be reached at (818) 772-3422.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Making the Move

Top football players attending Taft through open enrollment, including attendance district they live in and a comment by staff writer Eric Sondheimer:

*--*

Player Pos. Yr. Home school Steve Alvarado QB Jr. Reseda Tyler Brennan LB Sr. Reseda Marquis Brignac RB Jr. Sylmar Ken Davillier OL Jr. Birmingham Clint Evans OL Sr. Reseda Chris Garlington OL Jr. Canoga Park Airabin Justin DB Sr. El Camino Real David Melo LB Sr. Van Nuys

Player Comment Steve Alvarado Passed for 2,008 yards, 18 TDs Tyler Brennan Heart and soul of defense Marquis Brignac Rushed for 1,347 yards, 11 TDs Ken Davillier Emerged as solid blocker Clint Evans A two-year starter on line Chris Garlington Ready to be All-City lineman Airabin Justin Has intercepted six passes David Melo Part of City’s best LB duo

*--*