CAMPUS SITE NIXED FOR EXPELLED PUPILS.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

Heeding community concerns, school district administrators trying to comply with a state law requiring instruction for expelled students have backed away from plans to use the old Bowman campus.

William S. Hart Union High School District staff members are searching for a new location for the community day school, where students would be sent for instruction upon expulsion.

State legislation authored by Assemblywoman Barbara Friedman, D-Sherman Oaks, was signed into law in October by Gov. Pete Wilson, requiring educational programs to be made available for students who have been kicked out of a public school system.

Such programs can be run by a school district, the county superintendent of schools, or a group of school districts working together.

The Hart district staff had originally suggested the community day school be established on the former grounds of Jereann Bowman Continuation High School, at Nadal Street and Whites Canyon Road. (The continuation school is now on Redview Drive near Soledad Canyon Road.)

Santa Clarita City Councilwoman Jan Heidt said residents had complained to her about housing the program on the Bowman property, which the district owns and is near Canyon High School.

She favored a much more remote location, such as on the grounds of two county probation department juvenile camps, Scudder and Scott. She said she didn't want students who have been in trouble near the mainstream student population.

``There ought to be some penalty for being expelled,'' Heidt said. ``It takes an awful lot to get expelled. . . . and I don't think they should be coddled.''

Besides, she said, about half the old Bowman property is in use by the Student Partnership Program, a joint effort of the Hart district, the city of Santa Clarita and the Los Angeles County Office of Education.

Before the law was enacted, students were expelled from a district; now a public school system must expel a student to another educational program, said Phil Kauble of the county Superintendent's Office.

``Students were getting expelled and were not then provided with any sort of substantive educational opportunity,'' he said. ``(Friedman's) concern was to make schools safe, and also provide an educational opportunity so (youths) didn't just become community problems,'' Kauble said.

Michael von Buelow, Hart assistant superintendent, said that on the average 30 students are expelled from the district in a school year. Generally they are kicked out for one or two semesters, for offenses ranging from drug-related crimes to weapons possession or assault, he said.

``(Community members') primary concern is the proximity to Canyon High School. The old Bowman site is just around the corner,'' von Buelow said. ``They're fearful that the influence from students attending the program would negatively impact Canyon High.''

Most expelled students seek admission to another school district or to a private school. Others receive instruction through the county probation department office in the Santa Clarita Civic Center, von Buelow said.

He didn't how know much a community day school would cost the Hart district, but the state was expected to provide $1,500 per student per year, above and beyond the ``average daily attendance'' funds that all school districts in California receive.