Open-Enrollment Season Will Be Tight Squeeze for Students

For the fifth straight year, a surging student population coupled with limited classroom space has cut into the Los Angeles Unified School District’s well-received open-enrollment program, officials said.

Only 5,000 seats at 116 schools will be available this fall, 1,000 fewer than a year ago.

The state-mandated program began in 1994--when some campuses were sparsely attended or closed--to give families an opportunity to enroll children in choice public schools outside their neighborhoods. It debuted with 22,000 seats at 350 schools.

Monday marks the beginning of the monthlong period during which families may apply.

“The number of seats continues to decrease,” said Kenny Lee, an administrative coordinator in the district’s school management services. “In the future, this program might be really limited.”

Officials attributed the decrease in seats to a skyrocketing student population, which is expected to grow by 12,000 in the next school year and push the district’s overall enrollment to an all-time high of 723,000. That is larger than the total population of several states, such as North Dakota.

District high schools are especially hard hit. A recent Los Angeles Times computer analysis of 1999 high school capacity and projected enrollment found that in three years, there will be 15,760 more high school students than seats. Within six years, most--if not all--high schools will have to convert to year-round schedules.

“This is the first time we won’t be offering open enrollment,” said Joseph Walker, principal at Grant High School in Valley Glen. Last year, the school had 100 seats available.

Residency is the best way to ensure admittance into a desired school, officials said, as state law requires every school to accommodate its neighborhood students before offering open enrollment.

Many schools are operating with limited classroom space, caused by an increase in the number of students requiring smaller special-education classes and the implementation of the district’s class-size reduction program. The latter mandates a maximum student-teacher ratio of 20 to 1 in kindergarten through third grades, ninth-grade English classes and some ninth-grade math classes.

The district’s crackdown on social promotion--the widespread practice of advancing students to the next grade even when they are not academically ready--could further limit space for open enrollment once thousands of students are retained.

Lee and other administrators warned of disappointment, particularly in the San Fernando Valley and the Westside, home to many esteemed schools, such as North Hollywood High and El Camino Real High in Woodland Hills and Palms Middle School in the Palms area of Los Angeles.

Palms Middle School once offered open enrollment, but it has been unable to do so for the last two years, officials said.

North Hollywood High was ordered earlier this month to convert to a multitrack, year-round calendar in July, becoming the first Los Angeles high school since 1996 to give up its traditional schedule.

Since the first four high schools went year-round in the 1980s, the number has slowly climbed to 17 out of the 49 high schools in the district.

And although El Camino Real has 100 seats available, Principal Ronald Bauer said the spots are essentially reserved for open-enrollment students from nearby Hale Middle School. At the secondary level, district policy requires that priority be given to students who are attending feeder schools through the open-enrollment program.

“The seats are spoken for,” Bauer said. “Frankly, the chances of getting a seat is 1 in 1,000.”

With 3,600 students expected next year at El Camino, Bauer predicts the school will be unable to offer open enrollment in years to come. In fact, crowding is so severe that Bauer said the campus--home of district Academic Decathlon champions for the last five years and winner of the national decathlon two years ago--will switch to a year-round schedule in two to three years.

At Granada Hills High, which consistently earns top district scores on state standardized tests, only 75 open-enrollment slots are available. Not long ago, said Principal Kathleen Rattay, the school had 200 seats.

“There are hundreds of students for every opening we have,” she said. “In the past, I’ve had parents come in with their child’s report card or ministers vouching for the student’s good study habits and character. It’s so disheartening.”

Critics have argued that jockeying for seats smacks of the elitism found in private-school application and goes against the public-school philosophy of providing an equal education to all students.

In 1993, the state Legislature enacted the open-enrollment policy to give families in less-affluent areas the opportunity to send their children to schools with excellent academic records.

District officials and school principals said it is unfortunate that fewer students can take advantage of the program, because it is one way to attract and retain bright students who might otherwise attend private schools.

“I’d love to take in more students,” Rattay said, “but we just can’t.”

Starting Monday, parents or guardians may pick up open-enrollment applications for the 2000-2001 school year at any school in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Completed applications must be dropped off or mailed to the desired school by May 26.

Students may apply to as many schools as they wish. For families with more than one child, separate forms must be completed for each. If one child from a family is admitted, all siblings will be offered admission.

Schools will notify parents if a lottery, or random-selection drawing, is necessary. The lottery will be held on or about May 31 to determine who will be assigned to open slots at schools with more applications than spaces. Parents may attend the lottery.

At schools where no lottery is required, the admission deadline will be extended to Sept. 15.

District officials said parents are responsible for transportation of their children to and from school.

For information, parents should call the desired school or the district’s office of school management services at (213) 625-6414.

Open Seats at Valley Schools

San Fernando Valley schools with open slots and the number of

seats that are available for the 2000-2001 school year:

*

Kindergarten

Learning Academy, Van Nuys: 15

*

Elementary schools

Andasol Avenue, Northridge: 15

Apperson Street, Sunland: 40

Beckford Avenue, Northridge: 20

Brainard Avenue, Lake View Terrace: 35

Calabash Street, Woodland Hills: 22

Calvert Street, Woodland Hills: 20

Chandler, Van Nuys: 10

Danube Avenue, Granada Hills: 15

Dearborn Street, Northridge: 30

Dyer Street, Sylmar: 20

El Oro Way, Granada Hills: 35

Germain Street, Chatsworth: 35

Hamlin Street, Canoga Park: 23

Harding Street, Sylmar: 50

Haynes, West Hills: 20

Justice Street, West Hills: 24

Lockhurst Drive, Woodland Hills: 35

Melvin Avenue, Reseda: 15

Morningside, San Fernando: 10

Mountain View, Tujunga: 25

Nestle Avenue, Tarzana: 100

Parthenia Street, North Hills: 15

Pinewood Avenue, Tujunga: 20

Plainview Avenue, Tujunga: 30

Pomelo Drive, West Hills: 20

Sherman Oaks: 60

Stagg Street, Van Nuys: 20

Stonehurst Avenue, Sun Valley: 12

Sunland: 30

Tarzana: 40

Tulsa Street, Granada Hills: 25

Vanalden Avenue, Reseda: 10

*

Middle schools

Columbus, Canoga Park: 12

Frost, Granada Hills: 160

Hale, Woodland Hills: 140

Henry, Granada Hills: 200

Holmes, Northridge: 80

Lawrence, Chatsworth: 50

Lemay Street, Van Nuys: 20

Millikan, Sherman Oaks: 153

Mount Gleason, Sunland: 25

Nobel, Northridge: 35

Northridge: 100

Parkman, Woodland Hills: 120

Porter, Granada Hills: 80

Portola, Tarzana: 50

Sutter, Winnetka: 30

*

High schools

Birmingham, Van Nuys: 150

Canoga Park: 100

Chatsworth: 225

Cleveland, Reseda: 50

El Camino Real, Woodland Hills: 100

Granada Hills: 75

Monroe, North Hills: 50

Reseda: 75

San Fernando, Pacoima: 100

Sylmar: 30

Taft, Woodland Hills: 275

Verdugo Hills, Tujunga: 90

*

Source: LAUSD