DISTRICT PONDERS DILEMMA NEWHALL ELEMENTARY POPULATION EXCESSIVE.Byline: Naush Boghossian Staff Writer SANTA CLARITA Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, - The Newhall School District The Newhall School District is a school district in the Santa Clarita Valley that serves the Valencia and Newhall communities within the city of Santa Clarita, California, as well as the Stevenson Ranch community in unincorporated Los Angeles County. has only two choices in shifting schools' boundaries to prepare for the opening of two new campuses next year - and administrators are not enthusiastic about either option. District Superintendent District Superintendent may be:
n. Sports A player who plays wing, as in hockey or soccer. winger Noun Sport a player positioned on a wing Noun 1. will be forced in January January: see month. to recommend busing an additional 270 students to other schools or keep Newhall Elementary's population at 1,100 students while the district's other schools have less than 850 enrolled. ``If I make a recommendation to lower the school's population by moving students, it's not just because the numbers fit. It's because I think it's the best instructionally,'' Winger said. ``It's a tough call to make, but if I do make it, I think it's best for kids. A large school is not the best instructional environment.'' For the past year, the district's reorganization committee had the tedious task of determining how to shift the boundaries for each school before Pico Canyon and McGrath schools open in 2003, taking into consideration each site's capacity and potential ethnic makeup makeup In the performing arts, material used by actors for cosmetic purposes and to help create the characters they play. Not needed in Greek and Roman theatre because of the use of masks, makeup was used in the religious plays of medieval Europe, in which the angels' faces . Aside from shifting boundaries to maintain an acceptable student population, the committee also had to ensure the community's predominantly pre·dom·i·nant adj. 1. Having greatest ascendancy, importance, influence, authority, or force. See Synonyms at dominant. 2. Latino population is not segregated. If Winger chooses to keep 1,100 students at Newhall Elementary, the district would have to add eight portable classrooms to the campus. Board members have said they are uncomfortable with the prospect of that many students at an elementary school elementary school: see school. . But if Winger recommends moving 270 mostly Latino students from the community to different schools, it would reduce both Newhall Elementary's general population and the number of Latino students at the school. At Newhall, 68 percent of the 1,045 students are Latino. ``We are edging up on a number that's making us uncomfortable,'' Winger said. While there is no limit to how many students from the same minority can attend any school, Winger said the district would like to keep it balanced for instructional purposes and to maintain a teaching environment that is healthy for all students. The superintendent has met with Spanish-speaking parents to explain the options and to answer questions. ``These are really tough choices. Of course parents are going to be concerned,'' Winger said. ``It's hard to have your child on a bus and taken away from a school you can walk to, to another school in the district.'' |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion