Despite Objections, School Board Approves New Enrollment Policy

In a way, Weaver Elementary School is a victim of its own success.

When it first opened as the Los Alamitos Unified School District’s only year-round school in 1996, the school had to recruit students from outside the district to fill the seats. But in less than two decades, the school has built a reputation as one of the best in the county, forcing district officials to make difficult changes to Weaver’s enrollment policy granting priority for new enrollment to local students over transfers.

On Tuesday, the Board of Education voted to amend it’s enrollment policy so that new students from within the district will be given priority over new students from outside the district even if their older siblings already attend Weaver. The policy shift came despite pleas by parents of Weaver students from as far as Downey and Bellflower.

Weaver mom and Bellflower resident Sally Comer said she feels betrayed by the board for not honoring assurances made to interdistrict parents, who enrolled their children at Weaver with the understanding that their youngest would also be able to attend Weaver when the time comes.

Kristen Lockridge of Long Beach submitted a petition, asking the board to add a grandfather clause that would ensure that siblings of existing Weaver students would be allowed to attend.

“We have committed to Weaver. We volunteer at Weaver. We donate our money to Weaver. Our kids have helped make Weaver number one,” she told the board. “These siblings have a right to be at Weaver.”

Lockridge has twins in Kindergarten at Weaver, and now she doesn’t know if their younger sister will be allowed to attend when she is old enough. At least two of Lockridge’s friends have decided to pull their children out of Weaver because of the policy change, she said.

Even with the new policy change, Weaver parents were notified last week that all siblings of interdistrict transfer students would make it into next year’s kindergarten class. While that may not always be the case as more and more families within the district opt to enroll at Weaver, the policy change is necessary, said school board members.

Board Member David Boyer said he understands the interdistrict families’ concerns, but that the district is running out of options.

“We are getting to the point where we are about at capacity in what we can enroll in kindergarten,” he said. “We are going to get to the point where we are going to have to start turning kids away.”

“We are interested and we do care, but our sights have to stay on the big picture,” added Board Member Diana Hill.

Board President Meg Cutuli assured the Weaver parents that the district would always make an effort to keep siblings together at the same school. But, in the end, the board has an obligation to the voters and taxpayers within the school district, she added.

“I have to support our resident parents first,” she said.

TELL US WHAT YOU THINK IN THE COMMENTS

Did the board make the right decision in altering the enrollment policy for Weaver Elementary?