Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Year-Round School Schedule Now Completely on Track

PALMDALE —  The Palmdale School District will complete its four-year transition to a year-round schedule this month when the last of five tracks of students starts a new academic year, finally erasing any connection between the start of school and the fall.

“Back-to-school used to be a big deal,” Darlene Cobb, a spokeswoman for the district, said. “Students dressed up in new outfits and carried lunch boxes. (This system) may have changed that.”

When the 4,500 students in track A start their classes on Aug. 16, all of the district’s nearly 16,000 students will be attending school on a year-round basis with only a month off in the summer, Cobb said.

Palmdale began the track system in 1989 in an effort to deal with the burgeoning number of children in the district. According to Cobb, the year-round schedule enables the district to accommodate 15% more students than the traditional schedule did. The number of students in the district has increased by about 1,000 every year since 1990, and school administrators expect the growth to continue for another five years.

Despite the district’s satisfaction with the system, Cobb said many parents are not yet completely familiar with it. She said that about 649 students were absent for the first week of classes when tracks B, C, D and E started on July 28.

“It’s so confusing,” Cobb said. “Sometimes I’m amazed that any kids show up at all.”

For more information about the track schedule, call the district office at (805) 947-7191.