ALL-YEAR CALENDAR FOR 174 SCHOOLS?Byline: Terri Hardy Daily News Staff Writer Los Angeles school The Los Angeles School of Urbanism is an academic movement emerged during the mid-1980s, loosely based at the University of Southern California and UCLA, that poses a challenge to the dominant Chicago School of Urbanism. officials released a list Monday of 174 schools - 50 in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. - that would be forced to adopt a year-round calendar as part of a $1.8 billion school construction and reopening campaign. Officials said more than doubling the number of year-round schools is needed along with new construction to expand capacity to cope with an additional 80,000 students expected by 2006. The so-called Concept 6 year-round schedule staggers staggers /stag·gers/ (stag´erz) a form of vertigo occurring in decompression sickness. staggers incoordination of any kind, including a tendency to fall, and recumbency if harassed. each school's students with four months of classes and then two months off - eliminating the traditional summer vacation Summer vacation (also called summer holidays or summer break) is a vacation in the summertime between school years in which students are off for 3 months, depending on the country and district. . According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. school officials, Concept 6 boosts the capacity of schools 150 percent beyond those with traditional schedules. Under the plan, which includes building 51 new schools, 431 of LAUSD's 601 schools would be on a year-round calendar. Now, it is 206 out of 550. The plan was presented to the Board of Education for the first time, and some educators and parents said they readily support efforts to handle growing enrollment. But they also said they frown upon using the year-round schedule, especially for young children, because the school days are longer and there are 17 fewer class days a year. ``People are going to hate it, but what's the option? There are no seats'' said Diana Dixon-Davis, a parent activist in the Valley. However, she said the district should consider other types of year-round schedules that don't pack the schools as much. ``Concept 6 is really educationally unsound unsound said of an animal, usually a horse, which has been examined for soundness and found to be unsatisfactory. - it will really hurt kids,'' Dixon-Davis said. Sam Kresner, a United Teachers Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. official, said some educators like year-round schedules because students seem to retain more information. However, he agreed that the Concept 6 schedule was not ideal. ``They put so many people in the schools that they can barely breathe,'' Kresner said. Despite the controversy of year-round schedules, school officials said they don't have enough money to build enough schools so that all students could remain on a traditional schedule. ``We'd have to spend an additional $3.3 billion,'' said Gordon Wohlers, assistant superintendent Assistant Superintendent, or Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), was a rank used by police forces in the British Empire. It was usually the lowest rank that could be held by a European officer, most of whom joined the police at this rank. for research policy and development. The district is not yet certain how to fund the construction plan, which includes the construction of 51 schools, 13 of them in the Valley. That would include two high schools, two middle schools, three elementary schools and six primary centers for the youngest students. In addition to building new schools, the district will add on to 14 schools and install 458 new portables at existing schools. The LAUSD LAUSD Los Angeles Unified School District (Los Angeles, CA) has designated $900 million in Proposition BB bond measure money for the new construction and modernization. The district is hoping that the state comes through with a new bond issue that could provide $574 million in matching funds Noun 1. matching funds - funds that will be supplied in an amount matching the funds available from other sources cash in hand, finances, funds, monetary resource, pecuniary resource - assets in the form of money to the LAUSD. Additional money could come from developer fees and federal funds Federal Funds Funds deposited to regional Federal Reserve Banks by commercial banks, including funds in excess of reserve requirements. Notes: These non-interest bearing deposits are lent out at the Fed funds rate to other banks unable to meet overnight reserve . School board members raised no objections to the year-round plan. One board member, Jeff Horton Jeff Horton, born (date?) in Arlington, Texas, is currently an assistant coach (Special Assistant/Offense) for the St. Louis Rams of the National Football League. He has also been active as an assistant coach at the collegiate level (Minnesota, Nevada, UNLV, Wisconsin) and as a , even urged a policy that would make every school year-round. Horton said he would not support spending more money so that only some schools could remain on a traditional schedule. ``I would not support anything that would preserve or exacerbate inequities,'' Horton said. Julie Korenstein, the board president and the only board member who lives in the Valley, said schools that can keep traditional schedules should be allowed to do so. However, she supported the district going forward with the additional year-round schools, and in the meeting said she believed the construction plan was ``utterly incredible.'' ``This is the right thing, we have no choice, it has to be done,'' Korenstein said. ``We can't wait one single minute.'' Wohlers said the year-round list was a ``working'' document that could be changed by several variables, among them changes in the enrollment projections and how each school uses its space. Wohlers said the plan would be controversial and at first refused to release the list of schools, saying it would be too ``stressful'' to parents, teachers and administrators. The switch to year-round schedules has been politically charged for years. Wohlers and Horton said some schools, even though crowded, were allowed to keep their traditional calendar when teachers complained. Wohlers said he did not know why exceptions were made. One district official, who asked not to be identified, said schools with clout have been kept off year-round. ``The staff knows when to let it go and when to pick their battles,'' the official said. Wohlers said changing to a year-round schedule presents ``logistical issues'' for parents but adequate notice will be given. Previous reluctance to hold summer classes at some schools - especially in the broiling broiling: see cooking. Valley - no longer is an issue because air conditioning is being installed, he said. Superintendent Ruben Zacarias said action was necessary to take children off buses and enroll them in their neighborhood schools. ``At the moment we have some 14,000 students boarding the buses every day,'' Zacarias said. ``At 7:30 a.m. we have as many buses on the road as the MTA (1) (Message Transfer Agent or Mail Transfer Agent) The store and forward part of a messaging system. See messaging system. (2) See M Technology Association. 1. (messaging) MTA - Message Transfer Agent. does.'' SCHOOLS FACING YEAR-ROUND CALENDARS Here is a ``working'' list, subject to change, of the 50 San Fernando Valley schools facing change from the traditional school calendar to the year-round calendar. The list is conditional on a number of factors, including land available, space on each campus and funding available for new schools, new buildings and portable classrooms. ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS: Anatola Bertrand Burbank Burton Calahan Cantara Canterbury Chase Columbus El Dorado Fullbright Gault n. 1. (Geol.) A series of beds of clay and marl in the South of England, between the upper and lower greensand of the Cretaceous period. Hubbard Kester Limerick Napa Nevada Osceola Pinewood pine·wood n. 1. The wood of the pine tree. 2. A forest of pines. Often used in the plural. Ranchito Reseda Rio Vista San Jose Shirley Sunny Brae brae n. Scots A hillside; a slope. [Middle English bra, from Old Norse br Telfair Van Nuys Vinedale MIDDLE SCHOOLS: Fulton Lawrence Madison Mulholland Northridge Olive Vista Pacoima Porter Portola Reed San Fernando Sepulveda Sutter HIGH SCHOOLS: Canoga Park Cleveland Granada Hills Grant Kennedy North Hollywood Reseda Sylmar Van Nuys CAPTION(S): box Box: Schools facing year-round calendars (see text) |
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