SANTA ANA : Year-Round School Decision Due Today

The Santa Ana Unified School District Board of Education will decide today whether to place four more elementary schools on a year-round schedule to ease overcrowding and accommodate future growth.

The all-year schedule, which has been recommended by the district’s administration for Adams, Garfield, Hoover and Washington schools, would probably have students attending class for 45-day cycles with 15 days of vacation or 60-day cycles with 20 days of vacation.

If the recommendation is approved by board members, they will not select a specific year-round schedule until a future meeting, according to John Bennett, assistant superintendent of the district’s elementary division.

The year-round proposal was met with resistance by more than 200 parents at a public hearing in November. Many of the parents complained that a departure from the traditional nine-month school year would create problems in providing child care.

District officials, however, contend that the year-round schedule is the best way of dealing with overcrowding without compromising the quality of education, Bennett said.

With student population reaching an all-time high of more than 45,000 students this year, the district has already placed 14 of its 26 elementary schools on the year-round schedule.