Gary Moskowitz
The school district's commitment to smaller elementary school classes
might cause some school principals to move students this year into
another school that has room for them.
The Glendale Unified School District's 11 traditional calendar
elementary schools began the 2003-04 school year Thursday.
Although the district predicts having about 424 fewer students
this year, many of its traditional calendar elementary schools filled
rooms in those grades to capacity or went over capacity by one or two
students Thursday, officials said.
Because the district participates in the state class-size
reduction program, teachers in kindergarten, first, second and third
grades can have a maximum of 20 students in their rooms.
Participating schools that go over that ratio can lose state
funding for the program. The district receives about $900 per child
per year by participating in the program. One class of 20 students
brings $18,000 in state program funds to the district.
The district will not be penalized for going over 20 students
during the first 10 days of the school year, said Alice Petrossian,
the district's assistant superintendent for educational services.
School administrators today will call the homes of students who
did not show up the first two days of school to determine if the
child has moved out of the district, is out of town or is sick.
Schools cannot determine how many students need to be moved to other
schools until exact enrollment figures are calculated today or early
next week, officials said.
"There will be students who will be asked to attend another
school, because we will be capping off classes at 20," Petrossian
said Thursday. "We wish we did not have to do this, but we do. We
wish the Legislature would see the importance of flexibility in
class-size reduction."
Glendale Parent-Teacher Assn. members earlier this year lobbied in
Sacramento to give schools flexibility to have a school average of
20, with the option of having 22 students in one room. State
legislators did not grant local districts that flexibility.
At least four parents, whose children were sixth or seventh on a
waiting list for enrollment into a school, opted to enroll their
child Thursday at a school with available class space, Petrossian
said.
Based on enrollment projections calculated in the past two weeks,
the district this week hired at least seven new teachers to
accommodate for adding necessary classes in kindergarten though third
grade at traditional calendar elementary schools, Petrossian said.
Beverly Johnson, principal at La Crescenta Elementary School, said
kindergarten and first-grade classrooms were full Thursday, and
officials will decide today if the school needs to add another
classroom or move students to other schools. The status of about half
a dozen students is pending finalized enrollment figures, Johnson
said.
"We put every child in a classroom today, with the understanding
that we have to wait and see who shows up," Johnson said. "Most
everybody was here, but even a few children can make a big
difference."
