Local News in Brief : Las Virgenes Schools Taking Family Census

Acensus of families within the 80-square-mile Las Virgenes Unified School District is being taken by school officials who want to determine how many new classrooms they will need over the next 15 years.

About 4,500 survey forms are being sent home with elementary and middle school pupils this week, and a supplemental door-to-door head count will begin in selected neighborhoods next week, school officials said Wednesday.

The nine-question survey, which can be completed anonymously, asks how many bedrooms families have, how many children they have and whether they plan to have more children. It also asks how long families have lived in the community.

The answers will help officials predict the growth rate of the 7,636-pupil school system west of the San Fernando Valley, said Albert D. Marley, district superintendent.

Donald Zimring, an administrative assistant for the district, said birth rate information is also being collected from area hospitals. The planning process has been prompted by the proposed development of large-home subdivisions and of several large apartment complexes within district boundaries, he said.