NOHO PARENTS GET GRIM NEWS.

Byline: Erik Nelson Staff Writer

Smashing the hopes of parents fighting year-round classes at North Hollywood High School, interim Superintendent Ramon C. Cortines said Wednesday that preserving the school's traditional calendar would be difficult because of swelling East Valley enrollment, limited district funds and pressing facility needs in other parts of the city.

Cortines, who met with parents Tuesday, faxed a letter to the school Wednesday saying he and his staff had analyzed high school enrollment figures for the East Valley.

``What was made clear to me during the discussion,'' he wrote in the letter to Principal John Hyland and parents, ``was that our high schools were expected to be overcrowded, even on year-round calendars, and that overcrowding is increasing.''

The newest enrollment estimates show that North Hollywood High will be overcrowded by 1,447 students - 443 more pupils than previously expected - even on a year-round schedule. By 2006, East Valley schools will fall 7,492 seats short of housing all its high school students.

The news was grim for parents, who had collected more than 2,400 signatures on petitions opposing the schedule change.

``I'm disappointed to hear him leaning that way,'' said Marilyn Morrison, an activist with the coalition of parents opposing the year-round calendar at the school.

``We've had a problem all along with these number estimates. We've been getting different numbers all along,'' Morrison said. ``When these kids start in kindergarten, you ought to know how many spaces you're going to need 10 years later. There's no excuse for why they couldn't have seats for them.''

Cortines also wrote that a funding source cited by parents, $900 million in Proposition BB bond money earmarked for new construction, ``is not adequate to allow schools to stay on, or return to a traditional calendar.''

He also said that another $900 million for new construction, slated to come from Proposition 1A matching funds, ``may be substantially less than was anticipated.''

The parents' alternative to a year-round schedule would require an estimated $610,000 to place temporary bungalows on North Hollywood High School's congested campus while permanent classroom buildings, costing an estimated $2.8 million, are built.

Cortines, who could not be reached for comment, gave no evidence in the letter supporting the parents' plan. He also is considering a plan by Hyland that calls for switching to a multi-track year-round schedule for three years while new classrooms are built and existing ones are renovated.

Cortines is expected to issue a written decision on the matter by Friday.

Currently, 20 district high schools, including three in the Valley, are on year-round calendars. The arrangement puts students on three tracks, so that at any one time, two groups of students are attending staggered 16-week school sessions, while one group is on one of its two eight-week vacations.

Cortines pointed out in the letter that other areas of the city have been on year-round schedules for 19 years.

``I must very honestly tell you, too, that the Belmont and South East areas . . . must have first priority for the new construction of high school classrooms,'' he wrote.