2ND TRY POSSIBLE FOR BOND MEASURE.

Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - A high school construction bond measure similar to one that failed in November by the slimmest of margins could be headed for the June ballot.

The volunteer committee pushing Measure A, the $52 million bond measure defeated Nov. 2, never disbanded and is hoping the school board will OK a sequel for the June 6 ballot, said Theresa Todd, spokeswoman for the William S. Hart Union High School District.

``The committee has been meeting and planning for a future election,'' todd said.

The school board will consider the proposal on Wednesday.

Measure A won a significant majority of the vote - 65 percent - but failed to garner the necessary two-thirds vote - or 66.6 - percent to take effect. A factor in a future election could be Proposition 26 on the state's March 7, which would allow passage of school bond measures by a simple majority.

Todd said the committee plans to go ahead with a bond election regardless of the outcome of Prop. 26.

If approved, the bond financing would pay for three new high schools and two junior highs.

The district's current capacity in grades 7-12 is about 12,000 students, though existing campuses house 16,000. That figure will only increase, Todd said, noting that there are 19,000 students in grades one through six in Santa Clarita schools, children who eventually will be in the Hart District's six grades.

No organized opposition formed against Measure A, though some voters said they were unhappy with district plans for Golden Valley High School, a campus planned in an area being tested for soil contamination from heavy industry.

Others have argued that homebuilders should pay for new schools, but Todd countered that existing residents, too, are generating future high school students.

``We know if no other child moves into the area, if you were to close the barn door now, so to speak, we still have more kids promoting to the high school level than we can accommodate,'' she said.