Temescal Continuation School Faces Possible Closure

As continuation students ran around the Temescal Canyon High School campus looking for hidden Easter eggs on April 3, Principal Allan Tamshen was sober about the school’s future. ‘We are the best drop-out prevention program in the district [LAUSD],’ Tamshen said. ‘But the district has already shut down three continuation schools for next year.’ Whitney Young at Crenshaw High, Del Rey at Westchester High and Indian Springs at University High have been closed, and given the current LAUSD budget crisis, Temescal Canyon may be next. Continuation schools serve students who are at the highest risk of dropping out by helping and encouraging them to complete their high school education. ‘We’re not profitable because our class size is 25 to 1,’ said Tamshen, who noted that it costs the state $60,000 to house a prisoner for a year, compared to about $5,750 allocated to a high school student’s education at LAUSD (which could be higher with additional allocations). Palisades Charter High School, which is fiscally independent, spent $8,270 per pupil this year. High school dropouts are far more likely to spend their lives periodically unemployed, on government assistance, or cycling in and out of the prison system, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics. A 2008 California Department of Education study showed that one in three LAUSD high school students failed to graduate. ‘This school represents giving kids a second chance, keeping dropouts off the street,’ Tamshen said. ‘More programs like this might stop incarcerations.’ Temescal Canyon, located just below PaliHi, has 92 students from 13 high schools. The faculty consists of teachers Lorene Sosa (social studies), Justin Kirby (English) and Bryan Ko (math) teacher. Patricia Dunn is the school’s administrative assistant. At the April 3 assembly (a gathering that recognizes the most improved student every month), plastic eggs were filled with candy, and $5 was hidden in one. The reason for the hunt was simple: ‘These kids come from tough neighborhoods,’ Tamshen said. ‘They can let their guard down here.’ ‘It was pretty funny,’ said junior Xavier Martinez, who found the egg with the money. He lives in downtown L.A. near Koreatown and started at PaliHi before switching to Temescal as a sophomore. ‘This is way better,’ he said. ‘I do more work here.’ Tamshen explained that students need 230 credits to receive a high school diploma and Temescal High finds ways to help those students who have fallen behind or who are failing to meet the standard requirements. At Temescal, about 50 percent of the students who were failing in a traditional high school are able to catch up and eventually earn their diplomas by taking classes with more individualized instruction. In order to reach more of his students, Tamshen has also developed a special program that offers 10 classes and GED (general educational development) test preparation that helps them them attain their high school diploma equivalent. ‘I started that five years ago because a lot of the students were ‘lost,” said Tamshen, who also offers a Tuesday program from 4 to 8 p.m. that works like a study hall, but with individualized help.