CRITICS OF AIR CONDITIONING PLANS NEED TO CHILL; 66 VALLEY CLASSROOMS HAVE BEEN COMPLETED, PROGRESS CONTINUES.

Byline: Julie Korenstein

WITHIN days after voters approved Proposition BB, the school board authorized the district to proceed with the air-conditioning of 155 of the hottest schools. Air-conditioning our schools became our No. 1 priority.

Thanks to Proposition BB, 71 classrooms, 66 of which are in the San Fernando Valley, have already been air-conditioned. Schools such as Dixie Canyon Elementary School in Sherman Oaks, Calabash Street School in Woodland Hills, Riverside Drive School in Sherman Oaks, and Balboa Gifted Magnet School in Northridge are now fully air-conditioned. Larger campuses, including Van Nuys, Grant and Sylmar high schools are in the construction phase, with air conditioning completion scheduled for the end of fall.

We understood that an overwhelming majority of voters gave us a mandate: Air-condition schools as quickly as possible for the lowest possible price without sacrificing quality.

To honor that promise and abide by the will of the voters, immediately following the bond's passage, we hired architects to draw up air conditioning designs. Nearly 40 of those designs have already been approved by the state, clearing the way for the district to advertise and award air conditioning bids. In fact, the district is advertising bids for air conditioning installation at 24 Valley campuses, including El Oro Way Elementary School in Granada Hills and Encino Elementary. With the state approving roughly 15 designs a week, even more schools can count on their air conditioning work going out to bid shortly.

Long before any companies approached the district with their fast-track proposal, we were fulfilling the steps necessary to bring air conditioning into our schools.

By the time we publicly advertised the air conditioning Request for Proposal, designs had been approved, bids had been awarded, and contractors already had begun their work. The fact that we have not yet awarded one large bid to complete districtwide air conditioning neither slows down nor delays our commitment to bringing cool air to 155 schools by summer of '98.

Therefore, whoever secures the contract will find that much of the red tape already has been cut away, allowing for air conditioning units to go in at the earliest possible date.

Not only do we want to get air conditioning rapidly installed in our schools, we must also be assured that we are getting the best price for the units, the installation, and the subsequent maintenance costs. At the same time, we must be cautious and careful about special-interest groups that might have ulterior motives. We need to get the air conditioning in quickly and efficiently, and making ``big bucks'' cannot be the No. 1 motivation. LAUSD must not only air-condition schools, but also be fiscally responsible with taxpayers' dollars.

Our primary goal must always be the health, safety and welfare of our children.