he one utilized in Orchard Elementary School in the Alpine School District of Utah. The "Orchard Plan" is based on an 11-month school year, with a July hiatus for both teachers and students, and rotating groups of students attending on a 60-day-on, 15-day-off schedule. Brian Page, Assistant Superintendent of the Alpine School District and originator of the Orchard Plan, says that the year-round calendar not only solved their overcrowding problems, but also noticeably mitigated the physical and verbal fights which often resulted from having 960 kids in a facility designed for 850. Overcrowding remains the central reason why schools go to a year-round schedule; schools with stable or decreasing populations have little incentive for staying open longer. (Gitlin, 1988)
The Los Angeles School Board, which runs the second largest school district in the nation, finally faced reality in February, 1990 by voting to put all of its schools on a multi-track year-round calendar, with three-fourths of all pupils in school
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