CHARTER SCHOOL PROPOSED DESERT SANDS WOULD OFFER SECOND CHANCE FOR FAILING EIGHTH-GRADERS.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Lancaster School District eighth-graders who fail to graduate could have the option of attending a proposed charter high school to avoid repeating the eighth-grade, charter school organizers said.

The Desert Sands Charter School is being proposed by a veteran high school teacher and a Santa Clarita pool contractor through the Antelope Valley Union High School District.

``There is a lot (the) program could offer some of our students who are having difficulties,'' said Howard Sundberg, assistant superintendent for educational services for the Lancaster district.

The high school district board at Wednesday's meeting postponed until June taking action on the charter school proposal. They wanted time to review the new suggestion of taking in Lancaster eighth-graders.

High school board President Brett Nelson said he likes the idea.

``We would rather not have kids if they are not ready for high school. We don't want them to come and fail. We want them to come and succeed,'' Nelson said. ``We would rather have them go to a program to get them up to speed so they are ready for high school.''

Currently, Lancaster eighth-graders who are in danger of being held back are given one last shot at advancing to high school by attending a district summer school program, or two other summer programs offered by the county and the high school district.

Students who do not pass summer school have to repeat the eighth grade.

Last year, the district held back about 190 eighth-graders from advancing to high school. Of the 126 students who attended the district's summer school program, about five students did not pass and had to repeat.

Edward Kennepohl, who has taught in the high school district for 33 years - the last 13 as a science instructor at Desert Winds High School, the district's continuation school - is developing the charter school with Jeff Brown, a pool contractor from Santa Clarita. The two men are members of the Elks Lodge in Lancaster.

Kennepohl, who is retiring from the high school district in June, said he approached Lancaster School District officials about the idea and discussed it with Sundberg and Superintendent Steve Gocke.

``If we get the charter school going, this would give students another option,'' Kennepohl said. ``Instead of repeating the eighth-grade, they can come to our school and finish up the requirements for eighth-grade, start ninth-grade requirements and transfer to high school.''

Sundberg said the charter school proposal must receive approval from the Lancaster board.

Desert Sands Charter School would target troubled students, who would study at home and meet with their teachers for tutorials and to take tests.

If approved, the charter school would be the third in the Antelope Valley, and the second chartered through the high school district.

The high school district last year approved the Henry Hearns Charter School of Excellence in Littlerock, a kindergarten-through-eighth grade school with an enrollment of about 160 students.

Another charter school, Opportunities for Learning, has two sites - one in Lancaster that is chartered through the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District and opened in November 1999, and one in Palmdale, which is chartered through the William S. Hart Union School District and opened last October.

Enrollment at both sites totals about 300 students, officials said.

Kennepohl previously said there is a need for a school like Desert Sands Charter School, which would use the same curriculum as the high school district, to reach those students who have difficulty conforming to a tradition school environment.

At Desert Winds, 60 to 70 students never show up for class, and some are reading at third- and fourth-grade levels, Kennepohl said.

Although Desert Sands is targeting troubled high schoolers, any student is welcome, including handicapped pupils, special education students, students who are up for expulsion or are on long-term suspensions, and independent and home study students.

The school would be open four days a week, with Friday serving as a make-up day. Each teacher would handle up to 30 students a day in one-hour sessions.

Under a 1992 state law, the charter concept allows schools to experiment with different administrative and educational approaches. A new school develops its own charter, with a school district's approval, that often frees the new campus from following most public education regulations and policies.