(Dec. 22, 2010) — In October, Glendale Unified School District (GUSD) board members knocked down the possibility of converting Glendale into a District of Choice (DOC). Only students who reside in Glendale or La Crescenta are allowed to attend Clark Magnet. Had the measure been passed, students from any city or district would have been able to attend GUSD public schools, including Clark. According to GUSD Board Member Nayiri Nahabedian, DOC wouldn’t have been beneficial to the district. “[DOC] would have forced us to provide education for students outside our district boundaries. At a time of economic uncertainty and reduction of budgets, we decided that it would be disadvantageous,” Nahabedian said. DOC would have also given current Clark students the opportunity to stay at Clark despite moving to a different city. Two years ago, Faraz Samsami was a freshman at Clark. Samsami said he enjoyed a successful year at Clark with his close friends, keeping his grades and citizenship up, and even succeeding in intramurals, placing second in basketball. Samsami relished the technology and classes that Clark provides, in addition to the campus atmosphere as a whole. “It had many computer labs. The science classes had great tables, and [Clark] was very clean and neat,” he said. Samsami was looking forward to his sophomore year at Clark, but had to move to Valencia in the summer due to his parents’ occupations. After spending many years attending GUSD schools, Samsami was thrust into a whole new environment. “My parents knew that Clark was an awesome school, but we had to make a compromise.” At West Ranch High School, Samsami felt very much out of place, as the transition was burdensome. “I felt horrible. I had no friends, no cool teachers, a huge school with not that many interesting classes.” Now a junior, Samsami attends yet another school. Samsami says that if GUSD had the district of choice option in his freshman year, he would have definitely stayed. “It is too good of a school to pass on. My friend told me that some of my friends got kicked out, and that’s a shame because they just missed out on one of life’s greatest opportunities.”