HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – It is just before 8 a.m. in Hollywood and classes at Selma Avenue Elementary School are about to start.

George Reyes and his friend Oralia Gamez have been going to the same school since kindergarten. They are excited to get to class, they have math and dance today.

“My favorite two subjects are math and recess, and I like math because it’s easy and it’s fun, I like recess because you get to make new friends,” says fifth grader George Reyes.

The other thing George likes about school is that there are only nine other kids in his class, so he get personalized attention.

“What I like about them is that it can be kind of easy for the teacher to give instruction,” says George.

But the day Spectrum News 1 visited was Friday September 20 known as Norm Day or Normal Enrollment Day, the day when the Los Angeles Unified School District analyses how many students are enrolled in each class and then decides where to allocate its resources. Selma Avenue Elementary School didn’t make the cut.

“Today is going to be my last day with you guys,” says the teacher that has been subbing George and Oralia’s 5th grade class since the beginning of the school year, “so on Monday you’re going to be in a different classroom.”

A collective “what? No” echoes across the classroom.

Oralia wants to take action, “We should do a strike!”

George is worried about how it will impact his learning.

“I’m nervous because I don’t think they’ll teach me the same thing in fifth grade, the new teacher will be very confused and won’t be able to teach both classes,” said George.

Low enrollment in the fifth grade class is having a domino effect on every other grade in this school. Now all grades except fourth grade will be combined, which is divided up based on student performance.

“I’m going to be worried that my class will be combined with a humongous class, because then I won’t be able to ask my question if there are about 20 other kids asking questions, because I could be the last one,” says George.

George and Oralia’s new teacher is Mr. Ocampo teaches third grade.

“We offer really high educational programs, good enriching programs but we’re kind of hidden so a lot of people don’t know about our school,” said Ocampo.

The problem goes beyond Selma’s location. The population of school-age children in L.A. is quickly declining because of lower birth rates, experts say LAUSD could lose more than 80,000 students over the next decade. To make matters worse there is fierce competition from Charter and private schools.

“When I started about five years ago my class was about 28 students, and now it has dropped to 15,” says Mr. Ocampo.

Selma has faced similar circumstances in the past, in 2016, they stopped offering 6th grade.

“That makes me feel like I want to go to another school,” says George.

The new combined grades could turn off new parents and students, further affecting enrollment.