SCHOOLS MAY START IN AUGUST MONTH-EARLIER CALENDAR CONSIDERED FOR LAUSD.

Byline: Jennifer Radcliffe Staff Writer

After decades of holding classes from right after Labor Day in early September to late June, Los Angeles school administrators are looking at a controversial new plan to start and end school a month earlier so high school students can finish midterm exams before winter break.

Under the Los Angeles Unified School District's proposed calendar for the 2005-06 school year, classes would start Aug. 9 and end May 25 at traditional single-track campuses - a full month earlier than this year.

Supporters say the revised calendar would allow high school students to take exams before the district's three-week winter break, and it would give them an edge on standardized tests. It also would put the the district in sync with much of the rest of the country in terms of finding jobs and attending summer camps.

``I am absolutely in favor of this without a doubt,'' said Robert Garcia, principal of Fulton Middle School in Van Nuys.

Many districts in the country already start school in early to mid-August, prompting ongoing debates about the drawbacks of sending children to school in the hottest part of summer and robbing families of traditional summer vacations.

A report released this month by the Texas Comptroller's Office, for example, said starting school in early August costs the state $790 million a year in higher air-conditioning bills, as well as lost revenue from tourism, migrant work and summer employment.

Schools in several other states, as well as some in neighboring Ventura County and Santa Clarita Valley, also have already made the change.

The proposal for the early-start schedule was turned over last month to the LAUSD board, which expects to set the 2005-06 calendar in January. District officials said they will collect public input on the proposal until Thursday, then discuss it at the committee level in October.

Some parents and educators worry the community won't have enough time to debate the issue, and they say there's no reason to rush this decision.

``This is insane,'' Scott Folsom, a districtwide Parent-Teacher-Association leader, said about trying to change next year's calendar. ``This district has such a hard time dealing with any kind of change. ... We have to do one thing at a time.''

About 330,000 of the district's 750,000 students attend classes on a traditional schedule. Students at year-round schools start classes July 1.

Classes would start Sept. 6 under the traditional schedule and Aug. 9 under the early-start plan under two options officials will review. Under a third option - allowing a two-year transition - classes would start on Aug. 22 in 2005 and in early August in 2006.

While the transition plan would ease parents and teachers into the change, it wouldn't provide the same academic benefits next year as an early-August start, which allows students to finish an 88-day semester before Christmas break, officials said.

Early-start students also cover more material before they take the California High School Exit Exam or Advanced Placement Program tests in the spring.

Ending school around Memorial Day also ensures that students have plenty of time to find summer jobs, take college classes or enroll in summer camps.

While students and teachers would have a much shorter summer break the first year, Canoga Park Principal Danny Thompson said the long-term benefits would be worthwhile.

``I just think it makes a lot more sense,'' he said.

The early start date has less benefit for elementary school students, and it is already drawing criticism from San Fernando Valley parents, who say temperatures are too high in August for students to be playing outside or in gyms without air conditioning, district officials said.

Board member Jon Lauritzen, who's leading the charge to start classes in August, said he plans to host a San Fernando Valley-wide meeting next month to ensure that parents' voices are heard on the sensitive topic.

While he believes the change would improve the academic performance of students in middle and high schools, he said he's not willing to force the decision.

``If the community isn't ready to buy into it, I'm not going to ram it down their throats,'' he said.

John Perez, president of United Teachers Los Angeles, said he's disappointed by the process used thus far in considering the calendar.

``The district is already screwing up implementation,'' he said. ``Before you implement something like this, you ought to do everything possible to talk it out with (teachers).''

Perez said he thinks that starting school in August is a good idea, but that district officials will have to step up efforts to sell the change.

Teachers, for instance, must understand whether they will get compensated for losing a month of vacation the first year.

``They haven't started complaining because they don't know anything about it,'' he said.

Other union leaders said the decision must be made soon so that parents and employees can make plans.

``If you're going to do it, do it,'' said Michael O'Sullivan, president of Associated Administrators of Los Angeles. ``If this decision, like everything else, gets pushed back to the night before the end of the fiscal year, it will be a typical fiasco.''

Jennifer Radcliffe, [phone]

jennifer.radcliffe(at)dailynews.com

HOW TO COMMENT

Los Angeles Unified School District officials are taking comments from parents and educators about plans to overhaul the school calendar, beginning in 2005-06. Call [phone].

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