FR EE
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2002
Volume 1, Issue 270
Santa Monica Daily Press A newspaper with issues
Student enrollment swells throughout school district
Just the facts, ma’am
BY ANDREW H. FIXMER
Santa Monica Unified School District Enrollment Comparison 2002/2003 School Year — September 13, 2002-revised
Daily Press Staff Writer
Despite efforts to lower class sizes throughout the Santa Monica-Malibu School District, class rooms are likely to remain overcrowded this year. Preliminary enrollment figures released by the school district show total enrollment swelled by more than 100 students from last year with the total student body increasing from 12,688 to 12,712. Much of the growth in the student body occurred at Santa Monica High School and at John Adams and Lincoln middle schools. The number of high school students rose by 70 — the equivalent of roughly two and a half classes. At John Adams and Lincoln, the student body increased by 31 and 35, respectively.
“We tend to have an attrition that happens from eighth grade to ninth grade, but that didn’t happen this year.” Del Pastrana/Daily Press
— JOHN DEASY
Lee Johnson (left) explains to a Santa Monica police officer Friday afternoon that she was hit by a Winnebago while riding her bike on Colorado Avenue and Fifth Street. The driver, unaware that she hit Lee, returned to the scene after a couple of city employees, who witnessed the incident, flagged the driver down in their electric cart.
Superintendent of schools
The number of families living in the district that opted to enroll their children in the public school system accounted for much of the student body increase, school administrators said. “We had new resident enrollment well beyond our predicted numbers,” said Superintendent John Deasy. “Families are growing obviously pleased with
L.A. must improve SM Bay or prepare to pay Associated Press Writer
LOS ANGELES — Local governments would be required to improve water quality in the Santa Monica Bay during the dry months or face fines under a regulation approved Thursday by state officials. The State Water Resources Control Board voted to uphold a requirement severely limiting bacterial pollution in the waters from the Ventura County line to Palos Verdes by 2005. Los Angeles County and area cities that do not comply with the regulation could be fined up to $10,000 a day. The regulation, which was first
$
10.99
approved by the Los Angeles Regional Water Board, awaits final approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Throughout the state, local governments must post warning signs at polluted beaches and inform the public about beach water quality problems, but in many cases they have not been required to fix the problems. The new regulation seeks to hold Los Angeles County and local cities accountable for their water quality. “This is the strongest regulation to protect beachgoers in the country,” said Mark Gold, executive director of Heal the Bay, which works to protect the Santa See BAY, page 5
OIL & LUBE!
Petes’
SANTA MONICA AUTO CARE 1820 LINCOLN BLVD.
Se habla Español
(Between Pico and Olympic)
310-314-1688
2002/03 As of Sept. 19
Student Body Difference
319 436 784 649 443 327 304 666 743 127 440
307 433 789 650 410 336 320 664 745 125 415
-12 -3 +5 +1 -33 +9 +16 -2 +2 -2 -25
Total
5,238
5,194
Adams Lincoln Malibu Smash
1137 1273 528 53
1168 1308 538 53
Total
2,991
3,063
Malibu Samohi
637 3233
677 3303
Total
3,870
3,980
Cabrillo Edison Franklin Grant McKinley Muir Pt. Dume Rogers Roosevelt Smash Webster
Olympic 107 Independent study 41 SDC District Total
+31 +35 +6
+40 +70
104 14
+3 -27
390
357
-31
12,637
12,712
the school district,” he said. “Families are making choices, some of which include switching from private to public schools.” To deal with the influx of students, the school district earlier this year adopted a series of stringent policies intended to reduce class sizes throughout the district. The school board placed a moratorium on issuing any new permits to children who live outside of the school district, while allowing all non-resident children currently enrolled to stay. Under the system, elementary schools — See DISTRICT, page 5
Get trashy today on the beach By Daily Press staff
The largest beach clean-up effort of the year happens this morning in Santa Monica. Thousands of people along the state’s coastline will spend today picking up cigarette butts, plastic bottles and food wrappers from the beaches and waterways that has collected over the busy summer season. But the trash that litters the streets also eventually ends up in the ocean by storm water drains. “We try to reach as far inland as possible on Coastal Cleanup Day in order to stop trash where
it starts,” said Eben Schwartz, a spokesperson for the California Coastal Commission. “When you walk along our city streets much of the trash you see lying in the gutter is actually marine debris waiting to happen. All those cigarette butts and plastic wrappers that get casually tossed on the ground may one day wind up in some poor bird or marine mammal’s stomach.” Each year more than 40,000 volunteers turn out to over 400 cleanup sites statewide to conduct what has been hailed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the “largest garbage
WILSHIRE since 1988
828-2900 $ Please Call for an Appointment
5
OFF
ANY OIL CHANGE
OFFER EXPIRES 9/30/02
2601 Wilshire Blvd. Santa Monica Free Local Ride • New Car Warranty Dealer Approved • 15,30 & 60k Service ASE Certified Technician The Latest in Automotive Technology
www.dancedoctor.com
BY LAURA WIDES
2001/02 Enrollment
School
collection.” It’s officially called California Coastal Cleanup Day. Since it started in 1985, more than 506,000 Californians have removed more than 7.5 million pounds of debris from the shorelines and coast. The event, from 9 a.m. to noon, serves as the state’s contribution to the International Coastal Cleanup, organized by the Ocean Conservancy. All 50 states and more than 100 countries take part, making it the largest marine-related volunteer event in the world. Last year, about 688,000 See CLEAN-UP, page 5 swing
]É{Ç Vtááxáx
salsa / latin tango ballroom
Santa Monica Est. 1984
LEARN TO DANCE Unlimited Classes
$39
per month + membership fee
1440 Fourth St. • 310-459-2264
lindy-hop lyrical dance jazz / ballet hip hop / rave yoga belly dancing boxing kickboxing