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More than 1,000 people who lined up to register for summer school classes in Hawthorne on Monday morning were turned away when police arrived to control the large and unruly crowd.

High school students and their parents from all over the area began arriving at 6 a.m. to the Opportunities for Learning Public Charter Schools campus on Hawthorne Boulevard near 136th Street, in hopes of getting about 400 coveted spots for free summer school.

They were ushered out of the area at about 10:30 a.m., when the line snaked south to 137th Street and west to Ramona Avenue.

“People were standing in the middle of the street and traffic became a nightmare,” Hawthorne police Capt. Keith Kauffman said. “At one point, the crowd got a little restless and people were raising their voices.”

Nearly 100 police officers were called to the area from nine local law enforcement agencies to ensure that the crowd left peacefully, he said. Hawthorne Boulevard was closed to traffic shortly after 10 a.m. from 135th Street to Rosecrans Avenue. By 11 a.m. most people had left the area but a few remained, hoping to get a second chance at signing up that day.

Kassandra Palmer drove from Harbor City to register her son for summer school.

“This is the only place they’re doing summer school; most LAUSD schools aren’t,” Palmer said. “He needs summer school to graduate and this is the only place except in San Pedro.”

Opportunities for Learning Public Charter Schools has 34 campuses in Los Angeles County. The Hawthorne campus is administered by the Hermosa Beach City School District, but all campuses are funded by the state. The mission of public charter schools is to offer independent study programs to low-income students who need class credits to graduate.

Jesus Franco, area supervisor for Opportunities for Learning Public Charter, said he did not expect hundreds of people to arrive Monday. Last year, only about 40 people signed up on the day summer school registration opened, he said.

“I thought maybe 50 to 60 people would come this morning,” Franco said. “I think with more and more of the budget cuts, the population increases. Students are behind and they need credits in order to graduate on time.”

Franco said that, when police told the crowd to leave, he and school staff asked them to call later to schedule an appointment. Summer school spots will be given out on a first-come, first-served basis.

Los Angeles Unified School District began slashing summer school programs several years ago because of budget cuts. In the past five years, the district’s summer school budget plummeted from $54 million to $3 million.

Elementary and middle school summer offerings were cut in 2009 and 2010. The number of high school students eligible for summer classes has also been progressively filed down. Ninth-graders are no longer eligible, and seniors who did not graduate are told to enroll in adult school.

Cecilia Murphy rushed from work to sign her 17-year-old Gardena High School sophomore up for summer classes on Monday. When she learned that the school had closed registration because of the huge demand, she panicked.

“I don’t have another option,” Murphy said. “It costs an arm and a leg to get other summer school classes.”

Hugo Rios, who is going to be a senior at Lawndale High School, arrived at 6 a.m. to register for summer school. Five hours later, he reluctantly walked away empty-handed.

“I’m going into 12th grade and trying to get classes in,” Rios said. “This summer school is the best one. You can get done with classes very fast.”

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