BOND TO AID SCHOOLS SOME COSTS MAY BE PAID.

Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer

PALMDALE - A $13 billion state bond measure proposed for the Nov. 5 ballot would pay part of the construction costs for 13 Antelope Valley schools which have been approved by the state but for which the state has run out of money.

The state money would cover up to about 40 percent of the construction costs, with the rest paid by local school bonds, developer fees, or Mello-Roos property taxes, local school officials said.

``Unlike previous bond measures, this bond ensures that residents in our region actually receive their fair share of school funding,'' said Assemblyman George Runner, R-Lancaster.

Assembly Bill 16 was approved by the state Assembly, but still must be approved by the state Senate and signed by Gov. Gray Davis.

Besides putting a $13 billion bond measure on the Nov. 5 ballot, the bill would put a $12.3 billion bond measure before California voters in March 2004.

The bond requires 50 percent of the vote to pass.

The measure specifies that money would go toward school construction projects already approved by the state but which the state has run out of money to pay its share.

The Palmdale School District has $25 million coming from its own bond measure, but the next two schools it plans to build - Golden Poppy and Ana Verde - are expected to cost more than $34.5 million together.

The district expects to get state money in June for Golden Poppy to allow it to complete Ana Verde.

The new state bond measure, if it passes, would provide money for Ana Verde as well, and also for proposed Ponderosa and Granite Hills schools - estimated to cost nearly $16 million and more than $17 million, respectively.

Since the local bond measure's funds will be used up by then, the district may use revenue from the so-called Mello-Roos property taxes created on housing tracts in parts of Palmdale, officials said.

The state bond measure also contains money to help with land purchases, design work and toxic testing for the future Desert Willow Middle School, another east-side elementary school and a west-side middle school.

For the Antelope Valley Union High School District, for which voters in March passed the $103 million Measure V, the state bond measure would provide money to build a second new high school, expand Highland High School to accommodate a total 4,000 students and do about $2 million in other work at Lancaster and Littlerock high schools.

Without the state bond, the district has enough money to build the William J. ``Pete'' Knight High School at 70th Street East and Avenue R-8, the R. Rex Parris continuation high school at Avenue Q and Sixth Street East, and two campuses, one in Palmdale and one in Lancaster, for Phoenix High School, the district's last stop for expelled students.

Measure V also will pay for modernizing Antelope Valley, Palmdale and Quartz Hill high schools.

Both Knight and Parris high schools have received state approval, and construction on the Knight campus could begin in the next six months.

In Lancaster, the proposed state bond measure would provide money for a permanent campus for Jack Northrop Elementary School. The Lancaster School District is moving ahead with construction of Northrop, hoping it will get repaid eventually for the state's share.

The bond also would provide money to help pay for Esperanza School, under construction by Westside Union School District near Rancho Vista Golf Course. Like Lancaster, Westside is going ahead with construction and hoping it eventually is repaid by the state.

The bond measure would also provide preliminary money toward building a new elementary school and a permanent high school in the Acton-Agua Dulce Unified School District.

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Construction costs for area schools, such as Jack Northrop School shown here, may be partially paid for under AB 16.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer