SCHOOLS AWAIT SURGE IN STUDENTS.

Byline: David R. Baker Staff Writer

Enrollment in the LAUSD's packed schools could grow by 10,800 students this fall, setting another record and forcing one San Fernando Valley neighborhood to bus twice as many children as last year.

With classes set to begin in two weeks at most campuses, Los Angeles Unified School District officials said they expect enrollment to top 707,000 - more than the district can easily accommodate.

Even with three new schools opening in the Valley this fall, some principals are left trying to figure out where to put students when portable classrooms on loan from the government are removed this year.

And in the Monroe-Kennedy high school cluster, 1,619 students must be bused to campuses in other areas. Some schools in the cluster that avoided busing in the past might be forced to start this year if enrollment gets too big.

``We're going to pull a rabbit out of a hat, somehow,'' said Warren Mason, principal of John F. Kennedy High School in Granada Hills.

Mason still is waiting for renovation work to finish converting former offices into five new classrooms and isn't sure where the students will go. Maybe the cafeteria, he said, or the auditorium. Meanwhile, enrollment is expected to fall just one teen-ager short of the school's 2,781-student capacity.

``I may not even have an office,'' Mason said.

Many suburban school districts also expect their numbers to rise, although not by the magnitude seen in the city.

Booming enrollment is worsened by efforts to reduce class sizes in many grades and the growth of special-education programs, which take up far more space than do regular classes.

``We had high enrollment, people moving into the area and then class-size reduction,'' said Phil Genino, assistant principal at Langdon Avenue elementary school, which doesn't have room for about 400 neighborhood kids. ``It's a compound whammy.''

Classroom space is so scarce in Los Angeles that some schools might be placed on split shifts, teaching one group of students in the morning and another in the afternoon. But Gordon Wohlers, assistant superintendent of policy research and development, said the idea has so far proved impractical.

The problem, he said, lies in trying to squeeze in 310 minutes of daily instruction - plus a 20-minute recess - for all kids without forcing some to start class at an unreasonable hour, such as 6:30 a.m.

``A strict split session doesn't work,'' Wohlers said. ``It's off the table. We've got to build new schools.''

To ease the crunch, two new schools for very young students and one new elementary school will open this fall in the San Fernando Valley. But in an illustration of how difficult building even one school can be, Valerio Primary Center in Van Nuys won't open on time.

Prefabricated classrooms at the center were being hauled onto foundations Wednesday, said Principal Cheryl Mueller. Opening day at the new school, she said, has been pushed back to Oct. 25.

Until then, the school's estimated 222 kindergarten and first-grade students will take classes at Valerio Street School next door. ``Our parents are used to that neighborhood, so it won't be as disruptive as sending them far away,'' Mueller said.

More busing

In the Monroe-Kennedy cluster, district officials expect to bus 1,619 students out of the neighborhood this fall. Last year, it was 840.

One school in that cluster, Sepulveda Middle School, could start busing students away for the first time in years. Growth in the number of special-education students, who need smaller classes than do others, could force the change.

``We seem to have more of them this year, and we have to do everything we can to accommodate them,'' said Principal Robert Reimann, who hopes busing can be avoided.

It isn't just a matter of space. Principals must hire more teachers. They need more janitors and cafeteria workers to keep kids fed.

``This has such a snowball effect,'' said Principal Joan Kustodowic Elam at James Monroe High School. In her 11 years at the school, enrollment has ballooned from just under 1,800 to 4,300. She started with 88 teachers and now has 215.

Glendale levels off

Not all local school districts are growing. Vic Pallos, a spokesman for the Glendale Unified School District, said that after years of continuous expansion, enrollment in Glendale is leveling off.

``Glendale is pretty much built out,'' Pallos said, estimating that the district will again have about 30,200 students when classes begin Sept. 7.

Last year, the district reopened Valley View Elementary School and opened a new magnet high school in order to cope with overcrowding at schools. While young families continue to move into the foothills of La Crescenta, other areas of Glendale are not growing like the rest of the county, Pallos said.

Burbank schools, however, expect to add 259 students this year. And many of the suburban districts surrounding the Valley project even higher jumps in enrollment.

Simi Valley expects to grow by 950 students, reaching a total of 21,001. While substantial, it represents a smaller gain than last year, when 1,021 new students crowded into the district, said Lowell Schultze, Simi's assistant superintendent of business services.

``There is a lot of new housing going on and a new elementary school opened last September in Wood Ranch,'' he said.

The district has added 12 portable classrooms to hold the extra students. In neighboring Thousand Oaks, school officials added 40 rooms during the past year and expect an additional 550 to 700 kids when fall classes begin Wednesday.

``This is among the larger, if not the largest, increase,'' said Richard Simpson, assistant superintendent of instructional services for the Conejo Valley Unified School District.

Staff Writers Cecilia Chan, Lee Condon and Bhavna Mistry contributed to this story.

CAPTION(S):

Photo, Chart

Photo: Construction continues on units that will make up the Valerio Primary Center, one of two primary centers set to open this fall.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer

Chart: CROWDED SCHOOLS

Enrollment growth in Los Angeles Unified School District

Daily News