Parents Protest School’s Year-Round Schedule

Pulling their children out of class for an hour to join the protest, about 20 to 30 sign-toting parents marched outside Burton Elementary School on Tuesday morning to oppose year-round scheduling.

A spokeswoman for the parents said they think the year-round schedule, which took effect last year, gives students too much vacation time and detracts from learning, despite assurances from the principal that this is not the case.

The state requires 180 school days a year, and most students attend school roughly from 8:20 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

At Burton, students attend school about 163 days a year, but their day is extended so that the instruction hours meet state standards. Students attend school from 8 a.m. to 2:43 p.m.

Under the schedule in place at Burton--and more than 120 other overcrowded schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District--students are divided into three tracks. At any time, two groups are in session and one is on vacation.

“It may take away their summer vacation, but that’s all,” said Burton Principal Judy Kravitz. “No learning is lost.”

But some parents argue that the more days students are at home, the less they learn.

“I see this track as bad,” said Maria Rosas, whose 9-year-old daughter is finishing the third grade at Burton.

“I want to make sure my daughter’s got a future,” said Rosas, who marched in front of the school Tuesday. “I don’t want her to be like a child with no education.”

Rosas said about 35 students were taken out of class to protest. The classroom time lost would be worth it, she added, if the 760-student campus were to go to a traditional September through June calendar.

Kravitz said she was not aware of any plans to change the schedule, a move that would require both school and Los Angeles Board of Education approval. Parents said they will continue protesting today.

The campus was rocked in February when Principal Norman Bernstein told police he was beaten unconscious by two anti-white assailants unhappy that he headed the predominantly Latino school. Kravitz replaced Bernstein in March.