DISTRICT MAY ALTER SCHEDULES SCHOOLS MAY END MULTITRACK SYSTEM.

Byline: Naush Boghossian Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - The Newhall School District is considering a switch from the unpopular year-round multitrack schedule to a single-track system that offers small vacations in fall, spring and winter, and eight weeks off in the summer.

Two elementary schools expected to open in 2003 - Pico Canyon and McGrath - will ease the overcrowding at district schools, which would allow Newhall to implement the single-track schedule, one favored by parents over the multitrack schedule.

``For five years, the goal has been to go off multitrack when we increased capacity,'' said Superintendent Marc Winger.

Under the multitrack system, children attend school on one of four schedules, or ``tracks,'' with one of the groups always off on vacation. the system eases overcrowding because 25 percent of the children are off at any given time.

In re-evaluating its needs with the new schools scheduled to open, a district reorganization committee has been considering different calendar options, looking at neighboring districts' schedules and trying to create one that uses the best parts of each.

The schedule preferred by the committee is much like that of the Saugus Union School District, because it breaks up the instructional year with more frequent and longer breaks and it aligns with the William S. Hart Union High School District. That would allow an easier transition for students from elementary to junior high school and help families with children in both districts.

``If schedules are more aligned, it would make everybody's life easier,'' said Phil Ellis, a Hart school board member whose three sons attended a Newhall District elementary school.

Although some prefer the multitrack schedule for the three one-month vacations it provides throughout the year, the blended schedule makes it easier for families to plan vacations, allows neighborhood kids to have the same vacation time and takes the pressure off parents from choosing a particular track.

A single-track calendar also reduces the wear-and-tear on buildings that a multitrack calendar imposes and reduces the cost of running schools an extra three months.

The reorganization committee also has to figure out the most effective ways to balance enrollment at its schools after the new facilities open, taking into consideration each site's capacity and potential ethnic makeup.

Even after the new schools open, Newhall Elementary will still have 1,000 pupils, so the committee considered the option of adding portables to expand capacity in order to allow a single-track schedule.

And districts have to be careful not to create a racially isolated school after shifting boundaries, making sure the schools reflect the demographics of their neighborhoods.

For about 15 years, about 300 students that live in the predominantly Latino east Newhall neighborhood where McGrath Elementary is planned have been bused to Wiley Canyon, Peachland and Old Orchard.

But once McGrath opens, the bused pupils will all be assigned to their neighborhood school, which is expected to have about a 60 percent Latino population - an acceptable number because it reflects the neighborhood's demographics and recreates the current numbers at Newhall Elementary.

The committee has considered a mix of options including mandatory school assignments or ``migratory'' assignments, which allow existing families in a neighborhood to choose the school they'd like to attend while newcomers to the area will be mandated to attend a particular school.

Winger will make a recommendation to the board by the end of the year or early next year. Barring construction delays, the schedule the board approves will go into effect for the 2002-2003 school year.