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Health & Fitness

LASD Enrollment Growth Task Force Talking Points

The Enrollment Growth Task Force for LASD was driven by facts provided to them by LASD.  Some of these interpretations are questionable, and many factors were disregarded.  There has been no external review of the report, and some talking points that are used do not accurately reflect the situation.

Historical Situation in LASD from 2002 till now

A lot is made of the addition of 1000 students since 2002.  The implcation is that we are short room for 1000 students.  However, such growth was anticipated.  Covington Elementary School did not exist before 2002.  When it was opened,  Gardner Bullis was closed due to a lack of students.  Covington was immediately much larger than Gardner had been so it provided space for additional students.  Then after a few years, Gardner was re-opened.  Basically between these two events space was provided for an additional 600 students.  It is false to imply that the space in the district did not grow materially during the time when the 1000 students were added.

Historical Situation in LASD from the 70's

LASD was once operating 14 schools, in 1966 when it had 5924 students.  Prior to that point 2 schools it had once operated had been closed and replaced by the remaining schools.  At the peak in 1966 with 14 schools, the average school would have served just 370 students, much smaller than is practical today.  So how can we use the number of schools from back then as any kind of guideline?

The numbers that the report cites refer to the same number of students as today, and yet 11 schools versus the 9 today.  The implication is that we need 2 more schools.  But all is not the same.  At the point in time discussed, LASD consisted of 3 Jr High's and 8 elementary schools.  This is a material fact that is left out, faking the case for the need by the false analog of the current 9 schools versus 11 schools then.  Educational goals have changed, and no one would argue we should offer 300 student Jr High's today.

Covington Jr High opened in 1950 and at the time was the only Jr High in the district.  Prior to that grades 4-8 had been grouped together as the upper primary grades in a single school, San Antonio.  In 1957, both Blach and Egan opened so that the district had 3 Jr High schools.  This situation continued until Covington was closed in 1980.  In 1970 LASD had operated 13 schools and had 5239 students or 403 students per school.  By 1980 when Covington and other schools had closed, LASD was down to just 8 schools and served only 2897 students or 362 students per school average.  However, it is worth noting that assuming equal population of every grade level, there would have been 826 students in Jr High, or 413 average per Jr High.

You can certainly see why the decision was made to consolidate into just 2 Jr Highs, as spreading those 826 students 3 ways would have created an average of only 275 students in Jr High.  This was the situation in the 70's at the point that the talking point cites of 11 schools and  4500 students, 642 students per grade level. There were  3 schools serving Jr High, and 8 elementary schools, with about 420 students average per school.

So, it is very misleading to compare the situation then to what exists now.  We now have 10 schools, 1 a charter school K-8 with 480 in district students, 50 in 7-8 and 430 in K-6, 7 elementary and 2 Jr Highs.  Trying to build a case to add another elementary school based on the historical comparison is illogical.  If we look at history, the school's had already been closing at that point, and the number of 11 including an extra school serving Jr High.  In reality, there were only 8 elementary schools, exactly the same as we have now counting the charter.  Yet the talking point cites this like there is a shortage compared to back then.

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