Bloom is Off the Rose at Valley School Grant High Cutting Agriculture Program

By Lisa M. Sodders\ Staff Writer

VAN NUYS – Grant High School plans to ax its successful agriculture program after 28 years, even as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger launches a campaign to expand vocational education statewide.

Nearly 150 students are enrolled in the program, growing orchids and roses, and avocado and citrus trees on a one-acre plot, and also learning landscaping and floral design. Colin “Doc” Wainwright, who has taught the agriculture classes at Grant for 28 years, said the program – set to end Friday – is a haven for students who might otherwise drop out of school.

“Some of them go into the business and become landscape architects, floral designers or florists,” said Wainwright, 58, of Simi Valley, who has a doctorate in plant science. “We have no auto- tech program, no wood shop, no electrical shop. Everything is being shut down.”

He noted that Schwarzenegger signed a bill Tuesday that will pump $20 million into vocational education, and added, “(The district) needs to wake up and literally smell the roses.”

But Principal Linda Ibach said enrollment at the 2,900-student campus declined by 300 students this fall. That is forcing her to displace four teachers, consolidate classes in nine areas, including math, science, English, business, music and fine arts – and eliminate the agriculture program entirely.

“It’s unfortunate to lose any teacher or program but, unfortunately, when our numbers are down, we’re not able to avoid that.”

Los Angeles Unified board member Jon Lauritzen said he plans to investigate whether the program can be funded through the district’s adult career-education program instead.

“I’m doing everything I can to try to keep the program on board. That’s the kind of thing the kids really benefit from.”

Nearly 30 percent of the LAUSD’s vocational-education classes have been cut from the curriculum over the past seven years because of a budget crunch, with community colleges and the district’s off- campus adult-education programs picking up some of the slack.

Bob Collins, the district’s chief instructional officer of secondary instruction, said he plans to present a plan today to the school board that would enhance what the district calls “career- technical education” over the next three years.

His plan would target high-tech, high-paying careers in 15 areas, including health sciences, medical technology, building trades and construction. The Los Angeles Unified School District also would seek out partnerships to help fund the programs, which are expected to be expensive because of the technology.

“It doesn’t mean that there won’t be isolated cases where programs close for various reasons but the overall goal of the district is to expand career-technical programs,” Collins said.

But present and former students said the agriculture program should remain at Grant, and they credit Wainwright with inspiring them to set goals, learn discipline, and dream big.

“I would have been a drug-addicted hooker if it wasn’t for Dr. Wainwright,” said Tobi Milroy, 43, now a nationally certified teacher at Beckford Avenue Elementary school in Northridge. “That particular program saves people’s lives.

“Not everyone is going to be a brain surgeon. Some people need to have those hands-on techniques.”

Roxanna Salvador, 26, of Los Angeles says the horticulture classes at Grant were one of the things that kept her in school.

“My first job was at a flower shop,” said Salvador, who now attends Los Angeles City College, works as a teacher’s assistant for a local elementary school and aspires to be a teacher. “That was the only thing I knew how to do out of high school. I think it’s a great program.”

Denise Sanchez, 17, of Van Nuys, who is currently taking Wainwright’s advanced floral design class, said while she’s not sure what she wants to do for a career, she knows she has at least one marketable skill when she graduates next year.

“I can go into a florist’s shop and I know how to do it,” she said.

Lisa M. Sodders, (818) 713-3663

lisa.sodders(at)dailynews.com