TEACHERS LIKE A YEAR-ROUND SCHOOL SCHEDULE LOW ENROLLMENT MAY MEAN A SWITCH.

Byline: Alex Dobuzinskis Staff Writer

GLENDALE - Glendale Unified School District officials did not want to switch nine elementary schools to year-round calendars more than a decade ago - they did so because of overcrowding.

But, since then, the solution to crammed schools has earned fans among local teachers, who argue that children's academic skills get rusty after a long summer break. Students forget what they learned, and those learning English go too long without a lesson, teachers said.

That position puts teachers at odds with Glendale Unified officials moving to transition the district's remaining six year-round schools to traditional calendars, due to declining enrollment. Many parents also want the summer break, especially if it means the difference between a family vacation together and a headache juggling their children's different school schedules.

``The main conflict with parents seems to be the difference in vacation schedule, and I can't blame them on that,'' said Linda Gosney, a teacher at year-round school Thomas A. Edison Elementary.

But teachers said the kind of year-round calendar being tested at Thomas Jefferson Elementary allows parents to plan vacations, because all students at Jefferson have the same schedule, and it aligns with breaks older siblings might get at the secondary level.

``School becomes a community; it's not just a place to go to be stuck in the classroom,'' said Edison teacher Kim Labinger, who state officials last year named one of the top five teachers in California. ``It's open year-round, and it's much more efficient use of the facilities than having a huge facility closed for three months of the year.''

Twenty-five Edison teachers Gosney recently gave anonymous surveys to all supported year-round schooling. Three teachers interviewed last week at Columbus Elementary also liked their year-round calendar, which they said is better than the traditional calendar designed for an agrarian society in which children worked the fields in the summer.

``It keeps (students) more in touch with English,'' said Columbus teacher Paul Gersten. ``Because what it does is the English language (learners) get back into their primary language, and so this way it keeps them more connected.''

But parent Idania Carrillo, 28, wants her children's school to go traditional. She has twins at Edison on a year-round schedule and a toddler in preschool on a traditional calendar.

``I think kids should be able to have the summer off, and plus activities with your parents keeps the family together,'' Carrillo said. ``Instead of the hassle of the father going off in ... summer time and they're in school - you can't do anything.''

The school district switched nine elementary schools to year-round calendars in 1991, maximizing overcrowded campuses in densely populated, immigrant-rich South Glendale. Students were put on different ``tracks'' so not all were at school at the same time. The arrangement gave students the same amount of schooling as traditional schools, with a month-long break every three months.

The district is switching three schools to traditional calendars starting this month.

``If everyone in the district wants to go to a year-round schedule so we're all on the same schedule together that would probably be fine, but you'll never get that kind of total agreement,'' said Superintendent Michael Escalante. ``We'll continue to move to a traditional calendar ... for the schools that are on year-round schedule.''

Alex Dobuzinskis, [phone]

alex.dobuzinskis(at)dailynews.com