Walter Reed Middle School in North Hollywood is one of nine schools in LAUSD looking at staff cuts and larger class sizes, because the percentage of nonwhite students has dropped below 70%.
A 1978 L.A. Superior Court ordered integration program allows schools in neighborhoods with large minority populations to get more funding when the proportion of white students is below 30%.
L.A. Daily News reporter Antonie Boessenkool has the story:
"The nonwhite population at Reed Middle School has fallen below the 70 percent mark for the past two years, according to a March 22 letter sent to parents from Local District Northeast Superintendent Linda Del Cueto. The district has continued to fund the school as if it still met the 70 percent threshold of Hispanic, black, Asian and non-Anglo students. But in the fall, the school will no longer be counted as predominantly minority.
If total enrollment doesn’t change, that could mean cutting five teaching positions and one counselor position.."
Read the full story at the L.A. Daily News, and listen to Antonie Boessenkool's interview on today's show: