Crowding Puts Crunch on Classrooms

A classroom crunch in Long Beach has forced teachers and students to meet not only in portable facilities but also in libraries, auditoriums and--in at least one case--an open-air courtyard.

The crunch comes in the wake of a surge in student enrollment seen across Los Angeles County just as school districts begin class size reductions in the third grade. Most districts, however, were able to absorb the enrollment growth with few problems.

At Willard Elementary School, a group of Long Beach second-graders have been forced onto the stage because there are no available classrooms. In the main building, teachers who give regular one-on-one reading lessons are using converted restrooms.

At Addams Elementary in north Long Beach, the classroom shortage has squeezed two classes out into a courtyard. Other students learn at desks hemmed in between the stage and the audience seats of the school’s auditorium.

“The kids keep coming and we just don’t have any place to put them,” said Cheryl James-Ward, principal at Addams.

Enrollment is up nearly 3,000 students--or about 3%--at the Long Beach Unified School District, where classroom space was already at a premium, according to district spokesman Richard Van Der Laan. The district predicted a large enrollment growth but was unable to pinpoint where the increase was heaviest, he said. Some schools, like Willard and Addams, experienced an increase of more than 10% this year.

The increase in students has meant that many go without textbooks or regular teachers until they are transferred to a new school. Others, like Willard, must cut back on nonessential programs, such as the school’s extra lessons for second- and third-graders who have difficulty reading. Many overflow students are bundled into classes of mixed grades, making teaching difficult.

Most of the makeshift classrooms are temporary while district officials scour for schools with space, Van Der Laan said. Eventually, overflow students at crowded campuses will be bused across the district.

But until room is found, principals at overcrowded schools must perform frantic juggling acts.

Like many schools in the county, Willard and Addams have tried to cope with overcrowding for years.

At Willard, half the students are housed in portable bungalows. More bungalows would use too much of the playground, said Principal Robert Williams. To gain space, the school recently hauled away the toilets in three restrooms and converted the rooms into teaching areas.

The problem of growing enrollment has also affected other districts in the county. Increasing property values have prompted more families to share homes or live in single-family residences divided into duplexes, Van Der Laan said. And many of those attracted to the Long Beach area during the recent period of economic growth bring young children with them, he said.

Liza Daniels, director of pupil personnel services at the Inglewood Unified School District, said similar factors boosted enrollment and have caused the same problems for schools in Inglewood. Another factor could be that many parents are regaining confidence in public education, she added.

But despite increasing enrollments, few districts have had to resort to such desperate measures as Long Beach and Inglewood.

In Downey, a new school finished last year for fourth- and fifth-graders has helped absorb nearly a 5% student increase, but resources are already stretched.

“It’s a major strain,” said Supt. Edward Sussman. “It’s totally impossible to house this increase in school districts that are growing rapidly unless we have additional buildings.”

The Los Angeles Unified School District has absorbed about 10,000 new students this year without serious problems, officials said. The increase, which will bring enrollment to more than 690,000, caused nine new schools to be identified as overcrowded.

But the state’s largest district dealt with enrollment growth by busing students away from their neighborhood schools, said Bruce Takeguma, assistant director of school management services.

In Montebello, enrollment is up, but the district’s schools have had little problem coping, said spokeswoman Valerie Martinez. Instead of rushing ahead with class size reduction, schools have reduced class sizes when they have had the space. About 52% of first- through third-grade classes are down to the required 20 to 1 student to teacher ratio, she said.

But in Long Beach, nearly all of the district’s elementary schools have reduced their kindergarten through third-grade classes, Van Der Laan said.

“I’m not sure if it contributed to maxing out classroom space, but in hindsight it might have,” he said. “But the alternative, not to have implemented it, would have been shortsighted as well. . . . Students are benefiting from smaller classes. I think we made the right choice.”