After intense debate over how to ensure equitable access to all students while maintaining academic standards in its popular initiative for highly gifted students, LA Unified announced the launch of its most rigorous academic program. It is trying to reverse a controversial decision to relax some admission requirements.
Many parents who slammed the school district at a town hall meeting late last week said administrators had botched the rollout of new admissions policies, creating confusion, not including parent input, and saying they were caught off guard. He said it raised deep concerns about the future. Popular Honors Program Directions.
In previous years, students applying to the Individual Honors Program at Walter Reed Middle School in Studio City and Mark Twain Middle School in Venice had to submit an application, teacher recommendations and take a qualifying exam. All to show they were ready for fast-paced classes. Study well above grade level.
For the 2025-26 school year, the district sought to eliminate special application, recommendation and placement exams. Instead, only one academic standard is required. That is, all applicants are gifted or working at a gifted level through the district’s designation process.
But in a sudden change of direction before the Nov. 15 application deadline, district officials announced Sunday that they would be dropping most of the new admissions requirements and returning to a more rigorous process for the next school year.
“While LA Unified has decided to maintain most of our existing admissions procedures this admissions cycle, we are committed to working with our communities to develop rigorous programs and processes that meet individual needs and ensure equity. and will continue to ensure fairness,” a district spokesperson said. said in a statement to the Times.
Melissa Pope (left) and her daughter Chelsea (12) attend Mark Twain Middle School. Chelsea is enrolled in the Individual Honors Program.
(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
“Superintendent Carvalho and the Los Angeles Unified District leadership are committed to not only supporting a rigorous program in our schools, but also growing the program within each district, while adhering to all legal requirements.” said in a statement.
LA Unified did not provide details of the revised policy or which previous admissions requirements it would retain or discard.
It was unclear Monday how the changes would be communicated to all interested parents. Parents have until Friday to select their preferred school through the district’s Choices website. The school will then follow up with families about each program’s specific admissions criteria, a district spokesperson said Monday.
The decision followed weeks of parent outrage and questions, culminating in a heated town hall meeting Thursday night at Walter Reed Middle School. In it, parents of students enrolled in prestigious programs alleged that district officials changed admissions policies privately and without compelling reason. .
After hearing parents’ concerns at a meeting, Scott Schmerelson, a San Fernando Valley school board member whose school district includes Reed Middle School, said the situation was “embarrassing in a way” and that the new process would take a year. He said it should be postponed. A spokeswoman said he brought the matter to Carvalho’s office on Friday.
“Changes that affect student education policy must always be made with transparency and care,” Schmerelson said in a statement Monday.
An LA Unified spokesperson previously said the planned changes are part of a multi-year effort to centralize the application process for professional academic programs on the Choices site to ensure more equity, visibility and access. . Twain & Reed College’s Individual Honors Program is one of eight programs that traditionally had its own application process, but now falls under a new classification called Unique Educational Pathways.
The district said the previously announced changes are aimed at bringing admissions and enrollment policies in line with the state’s 30-year-old education code.
As of 1994, this law mandates that if a school’s applications exceed its enrollment, it must select students through a “random and fair process.” State law says school districts can use the admissions standards of specialized schools or programs “if the standards are applied uniformly to all applicants.” Additionally, students residing within a school’s attendance zone should not be displaced by students transferring from outside the attendance zone.
Nick Melvoin, a member of the L.A. Unified School Board for Twain’s West Los Angeles district, also expressed concern, saying he was “disappointed” that the district did not seek input from the school board and the community.
“It is our understanding that the intent may have been to provide more open access to these thriving schools, and no changes are proposed to the program itself,” Melvoin said in a statement Monday. “I am doing so,” he said. Administrators should take the time to carefully consider concerns regarding these changes and work with parents and schools to ensure the future success of these programs. ”
Walter Reed Middle School offers an honors program for gifted students who can learn at an accelerated pace.
(Al-Saib/For the Times)
Gowri Ramachandran, whose child is an IHP student at Reed College, argued against relaxing admission requirements. When a Times reporter informed her of the district’s change of heart on Monday, she said she was “pleased” that the district had apparently listened to and responded to the concerns of stakeholders at the town hall. . But she said she is concerned about the district’s lack of communication to families.
“I am certainly concerned that there has been no public statement or email to parents communicating these changes, especially as the enrollment deadline approaches,” she said. “I hope the district has really learned from the lack of communication…that they need to seriously consult with stakeholders when making changes to a beloved and popular program.”
change causes debate
Parents see the brought-forward program as a bright spot in a district struggling with declining enrollment and chronic absenteeism and focused on overcoming academic setbacks caused by the pandemic. Some worried that previously announced changes would degrade or fundamentally change the program, but applauded the loosening of admissions standards as a step toward making the program more accessible. There were people too.
Some parents who spoke to the Times said entrance exams and other application requirements are essential to maintaining a rigorous classroom environment. Students in the IHP program engage in math and advanced reading material one to three years above grade level.
Melissa Pope has a child in 10th grade who graduated from Twain’s IHP and a child in 7th grade who is currently enrolled. He said students of all abilities will be affected by the district’s decision to relax admissions standards.
Less rigor, she says, “will have a negative impact on students who would be able to thrive in that environment.” “It would be a disservice to students who would be placed in that environment and potentially suffer needlessly.”
Adam Felber recalls being “literally bored to tears” at school until his son enrolled in Reed’s IHP program and began learning a three-year math curriculum in one year. His sixth-grade daughter is also currently in the program.
“What they’re losing sight of is that talent needs are special needs,” Felber said of the district.
But some say the entrance exam and additional application requirements are inherently unfair to socio-economically disadvantaged students of color.
Elaine Waldman, whose daughter is enrolled in Reed College’s IHP, called the test “elitist and exclusive” and hoped eliminating the test would improve diversity in the program. .
“We don’t have to be so selective about the students we admit,” she said. “It’s a way to shut out the diversity of Los Angeles and keep it secret.”
The district declined to release information about the number of students enrolled in the two IHP programs and their demographics. Both programs take place on large middle school campuses.
School districts across the state and nation are grappling with admission standards policies for honors and advanced programs. The San Francisco School District suspended its merit-based application process for academically elite public schools during the pandemic, a process that opponents said was racist against black and brown students. Following major controversy, the district has since returned to relying primarily on test scores and grades.
Emphasis on fairness
As the founder of Our Voice: Communities for Quality Education, Evelyn Aleman helps Latino and Native American immigrant families in the school district advocate for quality education. He said many Latino parents don’t know how to access the district’s special academic programs or don’t think their children are eligible for them.
“Oftentimes, Latino parents are uninformed and don’t know how the process works,” she says. “They may also feel that their child is not good enough to be in the program, which creates a situation where the child is not even given a chance to compete to be in the program. Masu.”
“Every child should have access to these programs,” Aleman said. “But is the school district willing to continue to provide that level of quality education to all children?”
As the debate over admissions standards unfolds, John Affelt, a managing attorney at the nonprofit law firm Public Advocates who focuses on educational equity, said school officials need to make sure that school districts, especially students of color, He said that we should work hard to improve the level of quality of education for students. and low-income students.
He advocated exposing all students to a more challenging curriculum while providing additional support where needed, stating: “I think student performance will surprise traditional expectations.” Ta.
Many parents said that to truly improve access to LA Unified’s special academic programs, the district needs to replicate them across the city.
Meanwhile, families are applying for specialty programs even though the district has changed its competition rules.
Gilan Siasi, whose daughter is applying to several programs next school year, said the district’s decision is a prudent victory in what could be a long battle to maintain the integrity of the district’s most rigorous program. It was deemed that there was.
“Whether they’re actually going to engage with parents in the right way is still an open question,” she says.
This article is part of the Times’ Equity Reporting Initiative, funded by the James Irvine Foundation, which examines the challenges facing low-income workers and the efforts being made to address California’s economic disparities. I am.
