SCHOOL SCHEDULE SHAKE-UP LANCASTER DISTRICT BACKING OUT OF YEAR-ROUND PROGRAM.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Lancaster School District this year will start the first phase of a three-year plan of returning all of its schools to a traditional type of school schedule.

The district wants to drop the multitrack year-round schedule its 17 schools are on because of difficulties in planning for school improvement and staff development.

``We don't like year-round. It's the focus of the district to get people back on a single track so people can plan. We won't get a revolving door of people and kids,'' Superintendent Steve Gocke said.

Lancaster will convert to a modified traditional calendar with a single track starting next school year.

Under such a schedule, school would start in the middle of August with longer Christmas and spring breaks and a shorter summer, Gocke said.

The board voted 5-0 at Tuesday's meeting to change six schools to a traditional calendar effective July 1. Trustees several years ago set a goal of moving all schools back to a traditional schedule.

The six schools are Jack Northrop, Monte Vista, Nancy Cory, and Sierra elementary schools, as well as Park View Middle School and a new pilot middle school being planned for Jack Northrop's temporary campus.

``The six are where we have room to do it. There's enough classroom space'' to handle all students at once, Gocke said.

By the end of the three-year changeover, the district plans to have three more schools built, a middle school and two elementary campuses.

Aside from the maintenance and utility costs of running year-round schools, state aid to help districts operate year-round schools has decreased significantly, so there is no financial incentive to remain on that type of schedule, district officials said.

Staffers tend to experience burnout on year-round schedules, and it's hard to find research that says students achieve more when they have frequent breaks, officials said.

Palmdale School District dropped the year-round school schedule this school year as part of $12 million in cuts to make up for state funding cutbacks to schools.

The pilot middle school at Jack Northrop's temporary campus will be smaller and offer a more personalized academic program. It will alleviate overcrowding at the district's four middle schools until the new middle school is built.

Students from anywhere in the district can attend, and as of early March, 236 students had applied to go to school there.

The average middle school student population is about 1,400, with most of the schools designed to hold 1,000 students or less.

A district committee that has developed the pilot project has considered Endeavor, Freedom and Liberty as names for the pilot school, with Liberty Middle School its recommendation.

Karen Maeshiro, [phone]

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com