L.A. Schools Grapple With Enrollment Surge

Soaring school enrollment is complicating efforts to reduce the size of first and second grades in the Los Angeles Unified School District, officials said.

Although enrollment will not be tallied until Oct. 11, Assistant Supt. Gordon Wohlers said that it already exceeds 660,000, up 12,000 from last year and above the record projections made in the spring. The increase is consuming space that schools had hoped to use to cap primary classrooms at 20 students.

The district has hired 1,664 new teachers, more than two-thirds the number needed to accommodate the additional classes created by shrinking all first and second grades. Last week, 450 more portable classrooms were ordered, bringing the total to 950. In addition, the district is considering reopening two elementary schools: Garden Grove in the San Fernando Valley and Osage in Westchester.