AWARDS PROMPT PLANNING GOOD SCHOOLS HOPE TO GET BETTER WITH EXTRA FUNDS.

Byline: Lisa Mascaro Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - From new computers to supplies for the office copying machine, schools across the valley spelled out wish lists Wednesday for spending thousands of dollars earned for meeting their mark on the Academic Performance Index.

The state Department of Education announced the awards - $227 million in all to schools, with each campus able to decide how it will spend the funds.

``Computers, materials, maybe even fixing up something on site that needed to be done,'' said Marc Winger, superintendent of the Newhall School District, about how campuses in his district - where six of seven campuses were awarded a total of $337,493 - will spend the funds.

The API ranks schools based on standardized test results, and campuses are being given $63 per student if they met or exceeded their target results. Each campus decides how to spend its money. Across the valley, 29 schools will be receiving funds - from $547,397 awarded to four campuses in the Hart school district to $155,575 to all three campuses in Castaic.

Though schools were to receive nearly double the allocation for their performance when the program was proposed, school officials said they were thrilled still to receive the funds.

At Pinetree Elementary in the Sulphur Springs School District, Principal Tom Garvey said the school's leadership team would be looking at a range of ways to spend its $60,597 award.

``Technology would be one area we'd be looking at, upgrading our computer lab,'' said Garvey, explaining that if he could replace 32 computers in the lab, those machines could be sent to the individual classrooms providing additional tech access for kids.

``Also, we'll be looking at materials for students at risk and generally across the board where there's a student need.''

Pinetree also plans to allocate funds to each classroom, where teachers could use the money for specific class needs or to pool with other teachers on joint projects.

Like most campuses, decisions at Pinetree will be made by the range of teachers, classified workers, parents and others involved with the site.

``Everyone will be involved from the parent volunteers (to) classified, custodians. ... It'll be a total campus look at benefiting the child at the center,'' Garvey said.

School site councils and, ultimately, district school boards will approve the spending plans.

This is the first year the schools are being awarded funds under the new API program.

Later this year, a second round of dollars, for employees, will be allocated to the same campuses.

``It is very, very significant because the schools usually don't see this kind of funding very often,'' said Gary Wexler, director of curriculum and assessment at the William S. Hart Union High School District, where four campuses are planning to spend their awards.

``It'll be interesting to see how the different schools are going to spend it.''

Winger said after seeing performance results a few months ago, he started encouraging each school in the Newhall district to think about how they would spend their money.

Since the funding is a one-time allotment, he said he encouraged schools not to spend it on ongoing costs - including salaries. He also encouraged them to set money aside for routine expenses - printing costs, copy machines - that are increasingly being handled at the school sites.

Otherwise, each campus can generally spend the money as it sees fit.

Winger said he was pleased with his schools' showing.

``They did great. We had some great API scores ... we had some schools that made huge leaps.''

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Box: API AWARDS

Below is a list of local schools that will receive money under the Governor's Performance Awards program. The $227 million program allocates $63 per student to schools that have met or exceeded state-imposed targets on the Academic Performance Index, which ranks schools based on standardized test results. Each campus decides how to spend its funds.