Los Angeles Schools Enrollment

At Langdon Avenue Elementary School in North Hills, space is so limited that school psychologists are reduced to counseling students in a stuffy storage room slightly larger than a closet. "We've got classes in the library, we've got classes in the auditorium. We're so crowded in here we can't even see straight," Langdon Principal Robert Albin said Wednesday. His school is not alone.

For the fifth straight year, a surging student population coupled with limited classroom space has cut into the Los Angeles Unified School District's well-received open-enrollment program, officials said. Only 5,000 seats at 116 schools will be available this fall, 1,000 fewer than a year ago. The state-mandated program began in 1994--when some campuses were sparsely attended or closed--to give families an opportunity to enroll children in choice public schools outside their neighborhoods.

The decision to expand several San Fernando Valley high schools to accept freshmen will have a ripple effect on those campuses and associated junior high and elementary schools, necessitating changes in areas from curriculum to personnel, school district officials said Tuesday. Following the changes approved Monday by the Los Angeles Unified School District board, Granada Hills, John F.

For the fifth straight year, a surging student population coupled with limited classroom space has cut into the Los Angeles Unified School District's well-received open enrollment program, officials said. Only 5,000 seats at 116 schools will be available for open enrollment this fall, 1,000 fewer than a year ago.

Inside a white tent at the Convention Center Auto Show, tucked between the bumper sticker peddlers and the fellows hawking polishing cloths, Ben Avila hands out flyers touting one of the day's best deals--low-cost training to launch a career in auto repair. Avila teaches automotive repair in the Los Angeles Unified School District's adult education program, but he sometimes feels more like a salesman than an instructor, as he tries to keep his classes full.

For the fifth straight year, a surging student population coupled with limited classroom space has cut into the Los Angeles Unified School District's well-received open enrollment program, officials said. Only 5,000 seats at 116 schools will be available for open enrollment this fall, 1,000 fewer than a year ago.

The following Los Angeles Unified schools will begin accepting applications next Monday under a state law that allows open enrollment at any school with space available. Schools with no space are omitted; magnet and charter schools are not subject to open enrollment. Applications are available at all schools. Principals must sign the application but cannot refuse permission to transfer. Application deadline is June 13. Lotteries on June 14 will allot seats at schools with high demand.

AT DORSEY HIGH IN THE CRENSHAW DISTRICT, about 1,100 students--nearly 90% of the enrollment--will either leave or enter some time after the school year begins. The situation is only a little better at the 1,700-student Bethune Middle School in South-Central Los Angeles, which lost 713 students and gained 513 last school year.

The San Fernando Valley will lead an enrollment boom in Los Angeles secondary schools over the next decade as a population bulge of elementary school students moves through the higher grades, according to a school district report released Monday. Twelve of the Valley's 17 high schools are expected to swell by more than 1,000 students each by the year 2007. Three other high schools are expected to grow by up to 1,000 students.

The Los Angeles Unified School District will face another enrollment crunch over the next decade as a bulge of elementary school students moves to secondary campuses in the district's most crowded areas, according to a report released Monday.

Enrollment at Los Angeles Unified Schools, the country's second-largest public school system, rose 2% from last year--the fifth year in a row that student population has increased, officials said Monday. The increase of 14,044 students brings the enrollment for kindergarten through 12th grade to 711,187, officials said. This year's gains include 7,575 more elementary school students and 6,469 middle school and high school pupils.

In blunt and eager voices, students quickly reveal their assessments of the Los Angeles Unified School District's most immediate, crucial needs and problems: * "Metal detectors don't work, because kids can hide weapons in their shoes and no one will say anything." * "The covers are falling off of my textbooks. Some of them look like they were here since my parents went to school. I have a health book that's older than I am." * "I'd rather wait until I go home to use the bathroom."

Families that applied for seats in the school district's open enrollment program should receive notification by mail between Monday and June 18 on whether their child will be able to attend the school of their choice, officials said.

Families who applied for seats through the Los Angeles Unified School District's open-enrollment program should receive notification by mail between Monday and June 18 whether their child will be able to attend the school of choice, officials said.

With a student population expected to increase by 11,000 in the next school year, officials say the Los Angeles Unified School District's well-received open enrollment program might soon be crowded out of existence. Only 6,000 seats at 120 schools will be available this fall, officials said. That's 1,400 fewer than a year ago and 16,000 fewer than 1994, the first year of the state-mandated program, which was begun when some campuses were sparsely attended or closed.

With a student population expected to increase by 11,000 in the next school year, officials say the Los Angeles Unified School District's well-received open enrollment program might soon be crowded out of existence. Only 6,000 seats at 120 schools will be available this fall, 1,400 fewer than a year ago, officials said. The state-mandated program started in 1994 when some campuses were sparsely attended or closed. Close to 22,000 seats were available at 350 schools.

Two years after expanding its library, Heliotrope Avenue School is having to carve out some of that cherished space to create another classroom as the Maywood campus continues to grow out of its skin. "It's very tight around here," Principal Ray Fisher said. "We didn't anticipate the numbers of kids coming to the front counter to enroll this year. The library has our last available space for them." Heliotrope is not alone.

Enrollment estimates for the Los Angeles Unified School District released Monday show steady increases for the next five years from the record high reached last fall. The long-term projections, recalculated after an unexpected surge of 18,570 new students in September, predict a gradual boost of 2% each year, nudging enrollment up from 667,000 this year to nearly 718,000 in the fall of 2001.

From Crenshaw to the San Fernando Valley, administrative offices to classrooms, the often-bitter emotions of racial strife plague the Los Angeles Unified School District. District officials have worked to defuse racial and ethnic tensions with everything from squads of mediators who can travel to troubled campuses to appointments of administrators with an eye toward racial balance--a Latino vice principal, for example, to complement a black principal.

Two years after expanding its library, Heliotrope Avenue School is having to carve out some of that cherished space to create another classroom as the Maywood campus continues to grow out of its skin. "It's very tight around here," Principal Ray Fisher said. "We didn't anticipate the numbers of kids coming to the front counter to enroll this year. The library has our last available space for them." Heliotrope is not alone.