YEAR-ROUND CLASS SCHEDULE CONSIDERED FOR 2 SCHOOLS CHANGES WOULD AID AREA OVERCROWDING.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Lancaster School District officials are considering switching El Dorado and Mariposa schools from a traditional class schedule to a multitrack, year-round calendar starting next school year.

The district wants to revert its two remaining traditional-calendar schools to a year-round schedule because of growth in enrollment districtwide.

``All the other year-round schools no longer have any room, so we have to take up the slack,'' El Dorado Principal Melinda Keenan said.

The board will hold a public hearing during its regular meeting at 7 p.m. tonight at the district office, 44711 Cedar Ave.

After one year on a modified year-round schedule, El Dorado and Mariposa elementary schools switched back to a traditional nine-month calendar in 1998 because their enrollments had gone down.

At the time El Dorado School lost about 50 students because of changes in attendance boundaries, and Mariposa's growth was less than anticipated because a home builder delayed plans to construct 57 homes.

A change back to a year-round schedule at El Dorado was not unexpected, but parents like the traditional calendar. The school has students who have transferred in from other schools because of the schedule.

``It's something that's been expected, but not necessarily hoped for,'' Keenan said. ``They like traditional. We have people here on zone exception because they like traditional. They have children in high school (which is on a traditional schedule).''

El Dorado's enrollment has remained steady at more than 700 for the past couple years, Keenan said.

The district also is considering changing attendance boundaries to help balance enrollment at Joshua and Linda Verde - two east side campuses struggling with overcrowding.

Although each school was built to hold 700 kindergarten to fifth-grade students, Joshua School has 1,000 students, and Linda Verde School has about 900. The district hopes to get enrollment down to 850 at each campus.

The overcrowding has led to playgrounds filled with portable classrooms, not enough restrooms and parking, and lots of traffic, officials said.

Enrollment is surging at the district's 16 schools - up more than 500 students from last year to 14,520.

Six schools have more than 1,000 students, and four others are over the 950 mark, according to district records.

The boom is being attributed to development, people moving into available housing, multiple families living in one home, and longtime residents selling their houses to families with children.

The district wants to build schools, one on the west side and one on the east side, but that will not be for another five years.

Amargosa Creek Middle School, at 27th Street West and Avenue J, is scheduled to open July 2001.