Zero-Tolerance Rules Take Toll on O.C. Districts

Zero-tolerance policies in public schools are pushing up the numbers of student expulsions in Orange County, straining the capacity of the county’s alternative schools to educate those teenagers.

Enrollment in such programs, which include continuation schools, single-sex academies and detention centers, has more than doubled in the last four years. Educators said they are scrambling for classroom space in office buildings and storefronts to adapt to the growth.

Some of the increase in students can be attributed to the overall growth in the student population, which is inflating enrollments at every school. In addition, school administrators increasingly embrace nontraditional ways of educating public schoolchildren with academic or behavioral problems.

But most of the enrollment growth in the alternative schools has been created by the dramatic increase in expulsions from others. The number rose 31% in a single year, from 642 in the 1996-97 school year to 843 in the 1997-98 school year, county figures show. When students are expelled from their local school, they frequently are transferred to a continuation school or are sent to county-run alternative programs, which have smaller classes and emphasize independent study and vocational training.

Expulsion rates are being driven up by so-called zero-tolerance policies heralded by school districts in the last two years for keeping drugs, alcohol and weapons off campus. In the last month, for example, 12 students in the Saddleback Valley Unified School District were punished for violating zero-tolerance policies; six were expelled from the district.

“It’s obvious that the zero-tolerance policy is referring more students” to alternative schools, said Ken Williams, a member of the Orange County Board of Education. “We’re seeing growth in enrollment, and we’re having trouble finding sites to run our programs.”

An estimated 13,000 students were enrolled in county alternative education programs in September 1994. By the end of this school year, the number will be nearly 30,000. While those statistics include a rise in home-taught students and charter-school enrollees unrelated to expulsions, administrators said the numbers mainly reflect stepped-up school-safety measures.

And they don’t expect the skyrocketing enrollments to flatten any time soon.

“It’s a growing problem that’s going to grow all over the place,” said Ted Price, Orange County’s director of alternative programs. “There’s going to be more of these programs and more of these students.”

County educators are searching for locations to lease for expansion, but with vacancy rates low, that’s becoming more difficult.

“And you have to have an appropriate public relations campaign with the surrounding neighbors,” said Associate Supt. William Habermehl of the county education office. “If you say this is a dropout program, people say, ‘Not in my backyard.’ ”

Commercial buildings work best, he said, because they are near bus stops. Most students commute to school by public transportation.

Some students accused of violating zero-tolerance policies are kept within their own district but are transferred to continuation schools.

The 15 campuses scattered throughout the county admit students who are failing classes in the regular high schools or who request the extra help offered at those schools. Other students are chronic offenders of minor campus infractions, such as smoking, cutting classes or truancy.

Many teens at those campuses benefit from the smaller class sizes--generally, 15 to 20 students per class--and independent study, educators say. Their success has translated into a 2.5% countywide dropout rate, lower than the state average.

Some continuation schools have waiting lists of students seeking admittance. About 310 students attend Louis Lake High School in Garden Grove, which has a waiting list of 30 to 45 students. At times, the list has held as many as 98 names, Principal Richard Stuelke said.

“There is a great concern about what’s happening to students on a waiting list,” said Joe Stits, a past president of the California Continuation Education Assn. “Some of them stop attending school for months.”

Lake students complete most of their work by independent study or with individual instruction, easing the competitive pressure found at regular high schools. To help students concentrate, classes average about 18 students and class periods are 42 minutes long, instead of the usual 55.

“The question is: What is the best program to give a student an opportunity for success?” Stuelke said. “We will take anybody and give them a second chance.”

Zero-tolerance policies are not the only reason alternative programs and continuation schools have growing enrollments, educators said. Traditional high schools are crammed with students, and graduation requirements are more extensive. Students have less latitude to fail, and some find it hard to cope.

“These schools hold on to some kids who would otherwise be on the streets,” said Chris Rice, the director of high school and alternative education at Santa Ana Unified School District.

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Different Schools

Enrollment is climbing in alternative education programs run by the Orange County Department of Education. Part of the growth is caused by zero-tolerance policies adopted by school districts to suspend or expel students caught drinking or with drugs.

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School sites Students enrolled 1994-95 37 13,000 1995-96 59 19,571 1996-97 74 25,105 1997-98 77 26,786 1998-99 91* 29,732*

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* Estimate

Students enrolled, in thousands.

Totals include students who are home-schooled and those attending charter schools, which are unrelated to zero-tolerance policies.

Source: Orange County Department of Education