CROWDED SCHOOLS JAM IN MORE KIDS.

Byline: Helen Gao Staff Writer

Straining to absorb 16,000 more high school students in the next two years, the Los Angeles Unified School District is asking already overcrowded schools to enroll more students, add bungalows and convert any available space into classrooms.

These measures are necessary, said Dale Braun, director of school management services, because new high schools won't be ready until 2005. After passing a $3.35 billion bond in November, the district is now in the process of building 120 schools.

``We are expecting 7,000 more high school students next year, 9,000 more the year after. There are more coming after that,'' she said.

Under a $15 million proposal, the district will install 56 portable classrooms at three campuses, 20 of which will be located at Polytechnic High School in Sun Valley.

North Hollywood, San Fernando and Van Nuys high schools - already operating year-round - will be designated as ``receiver schools,'' meaning additional students will be bused to those bulging campuses.

Jose Rodriguez, principal of San Fernando High School, worries about the logistical nightmare of having to accommodate more students when his campus is already bursting with 4,500 students.

``It's a tremendous effort on our part, given we are identified as an underperforming school,'' he said. ``The prospect of receiving more students would only exacerbate the challenge we have.''

With renovation projects under way, part of San Fernando High is sealed off and some students have trouble crossing the campus in time for class.

When more students are on campus, Rodriguez said the potential for conflicts increase, especially when some of the students are bused in from outside the neighborhood.

``We will probably see the discipline problems escalate. When you receive kids from other areas of the city, you are going to have problems with the local students,'' he said. ``I am concerned about that.''

To help schools handle additional students, the district will hire 60 education aides to shepherd them around campus, and on and off buses.

As part of the interim student housing plan, single-track high schools - among them Canoga Park, Chatsworth, El Camino Real, Verdugo Hills, Birmingham, Cleveland, Grant, Reseda and Taft - will each be asked to accept 25 more students each year.

While none of those schools are expected to switch to year-round calendars immediately, some may later have to change their schedules.

The district is also asking Polytechnic and others to convert parent centers and other facilities into regular classrooms. Poly will turn a portion of its parent center into a classroom and will hold class part-time in its literacy center, which serves as an office and stores mobile book collections.

Christine Clark, Poly's principal, said her school is slightly over capacity with nearly 4,000 students in ninth through 12th grades, but she and her staff are coping well.

``School utilization has done everything possible to evaluate where there is space,'' she said. ``All the schools are maxed out.''