A.V. SCHOOL BOARD DENIES CONFERENCE FEE.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer

The Antelope Valley Union High School District has refused a board member's request for money to attend a conference sponsored by a conservative education group that opposes bilingual education and endorses back-to-basics schooling.

Sue Stokka said she will pay her own $49.50 registration for a meeting this weekend in Monterey of the Conservative School Board Caucus, a group she co-founded.

The board rejected Stokka's request for the registration fee in a 3-2 vote. Her support on the board came from member Kevin Carney.

``They turned me down,'' said Stokka, who is vice president of the caucus, a 300-member group formed more than three years ago. The group favors phonics in reading instruction and believes bilingual students should not be taught in their native language, Stokka said.

Trustee Steve Landaker said he opposed paying for the meeting costs because the board has not joined the caucus. Stokka had asked the board to join up at a meeting in June, but board members Wilda Andrejcik and Bill Olenick asked to have more information on the organization.

``Total participation by the school district in the organization has not been approved,'' Landaker said. ``The board has to buy into the organization, that it will bring something back to the district.''

Stokka, who is the coordinator of the conference, said Landaker offered to pay for the registration fee, ``so there's no hard feelings,'' but she said she refused him on principle.

``I felt it was condescending. I will pay my own way,'' Stokka said.

Stokka noted that previous boards had approved paying for caucus conference costs. Landaker acknowledged that, but said the caucus had a different name before and has undergone a reorganization.

``By changing its name and using the word `conservative,' we're alienating some of the people in the district,'' Landaker said.

Stokka said the caucus was formed because she and other conservatives ``didn't have a voice'' with the ``liberal'' California School Boards Association. The district pays for board membership in the CSBA and pays for costs associated with CSBA meetings.

``The CSBA has told me I need to go elsewhere. We've been clearly left out,'' Stokka said.

Carney said he felt paying for the trip with district funds was a proper expenditure of public funds and said the conservative caucus focuses on educational issues, not political ones.

``I feel that the California School Boards Association makes a point of excluding conservatives,'' Carney said.

Stokka argued the conference was a legitimate expense.

``The law allows and encourages board members to go to meetings and conferences that deal with education,'' Stokka said.