AREA SCHOOLS EXPECT $87 MILLION IN BOND AID : NEW CLASSROOMS, RENOVATIONS PROPOSED IN PALMDALE, LANCASTER.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer

The three biggest school districts in the Antelope Valley expect to receive up to $87 million with the passage of the $3 billion school construction bond measure, officials said.

The Palmdale School District, the third largest elementary school district in California with more than 18,000 students, is in line to receive $41 million, officials said.

``We're elated,'' Superintendent Nancy Smith said. ``We - the education community and the parents - made people more aware of what's happening. We put a lot more effort into educating people on how the schools are already overcrowded.''

The bond measure, which passed with 62 percent of the vote in Tuesday's election, will finance new school buildings and upgrade existing ones.

More than $2 billion will go for schools in kindergarten through 12th grade and $975 million will go to higher education.

The Antelope Valley Union High School District is eligible for about $22 million in funding, and also could get $15 million in 50-50 matching funds from the state, said Con Oamek, assistant superintendent of business services.

Proposed projects include modernization of Antelope Valley and Palmdale high schools; a second continuation high school planned for the Palmdale area; and a high school in east Palmdale, Oamek said.

``Is `ecstatic' a printable term?'' Oamek said. ``We're very pleased that the bond was successful.''

Officials at Lancaster School District believe they could be eligible to receive about $9 million. The amount depends on where the district falls on a priority list and how much the district can generate in matching funds, said Ned McNabb, interim assistant superintendent of business.

Potential projects include building a middle school at 27th Street West and Avenue J; modernizing two elementary schools and building permanent schools to replace the temporary ones at New Vista and Lancaster elementary schools.

``We need new school construction in Lancaster. There's a need for a fourth middle school and for additional elementary schools on both the east and west sides of town, based on current population and projected enrollment,'' McNabb said.

In the Palmdale School District, $8.3 million would pay for construction of the planned Cimarron School, for kindergarten through eighth grade, at 45th Street East and Avenue S-4; $15 million for an intermediate school called Shadow Hills; and $10 million for the proposed Quail Valley School for kindergarten through sixth grade.

Shadow Hills and Quail Valley schools are planned on 30 acres on Avenue S between 58th and 60th Streets East.

About $6.7 million would go toward upgrading and modernizing four Palmdale schools - Manzanita, Tamarisk and Yucca elementary schools, as well as Juniper Intermediate School.

About $3 million would be used to buy land for two schools: one to be named Golden Poppy School, for kindergarten through eighth grade, at 62nd Street East and Avenue R-4, and planned Ponderosa School for kindergarten through sixth grade at 37th Street East and Pearblossom Highway.

The Palmdale district is also counting on the passage of an $81 million local bond measure in a June 4 election to help pay for building, modernizing and expanding schools. Unlike the state bond, the local bond measure will need a two-thirds majority to pass.