Amusement biz braces for year-round schooling.

Amusement biz braces for year-round schooling 

Some say they won't be affected, others prepare for change

About 360,000 children returned to the classroom this week and many in the amusement industries are uncertain how the Los Angeles Unified School District's newly adopted year-round school schedule will affect them. However, some proprietors say they are almost certain to be hit.

"I can't help but believe it will affect attendance," said Ken Lemasters, vice president and general manager of Raging Waters park in San Dimas.

The Los Angeles Board of Education adopted a schedule in April that placed all 842 of the district's grade schools, junior highs and high schools on a year-round schedule. Most of the students will be on the same track, with a shorter summer vacation and a longer winter break. Other students' schedules will be staggered throughout the year.

Southland businesses that cater to school-age children and teenagers -- including theme parks, camps, arcades and movie theaters -- differed over the expected impact of the new school calendar. Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, for instance, could be hit hard.

"It definitely will affect business. There's no two ways about it," said Magic Mountain spokeswoman Courtney Simmons. But, "we're not sure how."

"The only park it might hurt is Magic Mountain," said Nick Winslow, president of Torrance-based Harrison Price Co., a theme park consultant. At this point, Magic Mountain isn't open every day year-round, he said. The park is closed during the weekdays of the fall and winter months, so summer business is more crucial for this park than for its rivals.

On the other hand, the new schedule might not affect Disneyland, Universal Studios and Knott's Berry Farm quite as much because a lot of the business at these parks comes from tourists, Winslow said.

What the new calendar might do is even out attendance. Until now, attendance at the parks has peaked during summertime, when all kids were out of school. Now, there may be fewer attendees during June, July and August, and more business throughout the year, when the various schools let out for vacation, park officials and industry analysts say.

"Our park won't be as busy, and our slow periods probably wouldn't be as slow, but overall there probably will not be much of an effect," said Disneyland spokesman Greg Albrecht.

Yet Knott's Berry Farm spokesman Stuart Zanville said he was worried. On a typical winter weekday, the park gets about one-third as many visitors as it does during the summer months, he said.

Staffing is another concern because several theme parks hire teenagers, many of whom will now be in school during the summer months.

"Staffing is just really key for us," Simmons said of Magic Mountain. She added that the park assigned a management task group to analyze the effect a year-round school schedule will have on the park.

Employment isn't a major issue for Knott's Berry Farm, though, because most of the park's employees live in Orange County, which is not involved in the new scheduling, Zanville said.

During the summertime kids also attend camp, and at least one Southland day camp already has plans to adapt to the longer winter breaks in the new schedule. Saul Rowen, owner of a day camp in Topanga called Cali-Camp, is surveying parents of children who attend public school to assess the need for a winter camp.

If there is enough response, Rowen said he will rent large, heated, portable tents and mail out registration forms to the 23 percent of his campers who attend schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Meadow Oaks Summer Day Camp in Calabasas, meanwhile, is making "subtle changes," said camp director Ken Ketchie.

The camp used to require that parents register their kids for two- or four-week sessions at a time. But now, with the staggered school schedule, parents are allowed to enroll their children at any time. The camp is not planning a winter session, however, Ketchie said.

Since so many children attend private school nowadays, not all camps will be affected. Most campers at Camp Kinneret in Agoura Hills attend private schools and it won't be affected by the year-round program, noted camp secretary Irene Johnson.

While kids are home during the summer, they also go to neighborhood arcades. Year-round schools "probably will have a definite impact on our business," said Todd Moncrief, manager of Tilt, an arcade in Canoga Park.

Hiring will be a little tougher at Sherman Oaks Castle because many employees at the miniature golf course and arcade are high school students, said Danny Akana, a district manager of Malibu Grand Prix, which owns the castle.

Castle may also be affected by a lack of children in summer camps, because camps supply much of its summertime business, Akana said.

Movie theater officials, on the other hand, are more sanguine because they say they are less dependent on public school students.

"A good portion of our business is college people," said Milton Moritz, a spokesman for Los Angeles-based Pacific Theatres. "It's really hard to say what will happen."

"We really don't think it's going to have any negative impact at all," added Mary Ann Grasso, executive director of the North Hollywood-based National Association of Theatre Owners.

On the other hand, kids might go to the movies more often during the rest of the year and increase their exposure to films, Grasso said.