ALTERNATIVE LEARNING; SCHOOL OFFERS EDUCATIONAL OPTIONS.

Byline: John Sanders Staff Writer

Some parents don't want their kids in traditional public schools. Some kids are expelled. Maybe some girls are pregnant and can't attend regular classes five days a week.

But for these people there is another possibility: Options for Youth, a charter school, meaning it operates with tax dollars but is free of many of the regulations imposed on traditional public schools.

``They (charter schools) offer an alternative,'' said Richard Garcia, who is assistant to the president in the Options for Youth main office in Pasadena. ``They also offer the at-risk student population of the state the gateway to an education and a high school diploma.''

Lancaster's Options For Youth center, operating out of a shopping center, is a satellite school for the main campus in Long Beach, run through the Long Beach Unified School District. In all, there are five main campuses - Burbank, Upland, Victor Valley, San Gabriel and Long Beach - and 30 satellites.

One 16-year-old student at Options for Youth explained how he failed the 10th grade after he injured his hand jumping off a ladder. He couldn't do his school work, he said, so he missed a great number of days last year.

But now he has higher than a 3.0 grade-point average, compared to less than a 2.0 when he was attending Highland High School.

``This really helped me out, because I only had to go two days a week, and I can do my work at home,'' the boy said. ``It will help a lot of people out who are in my situation who don't like going to school.''

Students at the independent-study school have to meet with one of two teachers twice a week for at least an hour. All tests are taken inside the building.

``I think they're (charter schools) very important for catching those kids that are falling through the cracks in the public schools,'' said Brent Campfield, who is a teacher at Options For Youth in Lancaster. ``I feel that they're very crucial to filling in a gap and catching those kids and helping reorient them.''

Options For Youth in Lancaster is broken up into independent study and home study. Approximately 95 students attend the home-study school, and 65 students attend the independent-study program.

Independent study is geared toward high school kids who might be falling behind in school, or who have been expelled or have other problems that interfere with their school.

Students in the independent-study program are given packets with homework problems and other materials. According to Campfield, students must finish a minimum of one packet per week, equivalent to one credit. Students can do as many packets as they can in a week, followed by a test.

Home study is for students whose parents want to teach them at home. The school provides the parent with the necessary materials to teach the kids. These are geared more toward children younger than high school age.

``It provides services that regular schools do not,'' said home-study teacher Vicky Floyd, who gives advice to parents for teaching their children and tutors pupils as needed. ``It's a wonderful option to have.''

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PHOTO (Color) Brent Campfield teaches at Options for Youth in Lancaster, a charter school offering independent study and home study programs.

Jeff Goldwater/Daily News