DEMISE OF CENTER A BLOW TO STUDENTS.

Byline: Beth Barrett Staff Writer

The news no one wanted to hear at Belmont High School spread rapidly from classroom to classroom Thursday accompanied by the sobering sounds of disappointment sucked deep into youthful lungs.

The gasps at learning their dream of a new learning center had just been shattered were followed by rapid-fire questions: ``Why?'' ``Why can't it be built?'' ``Why not?''

Mounting evidence that the new Belmont Learning Center rising tantalizingly close to their 77-year-old, overcrowded and overburdened school could never be safely salvaged did little to soften the death blow. Nor did promises by administrators of speedy solutions.

``My little brothers and sisters were going to go there,'' said senior Adriana Garcia, student body secretary, amid a chorus of Belmont student leaders voicing their dismay.

``It's not even about an academic promise, it's about the fulfillments that were due this community,'' said senior class President Ana Fernandez. ``It would be a shrine. It would be an outlet for so many community activities, so much could be done.''

Several of the students said they had interpreted a face-to-face meeting Tuesday with LAUSD Chief Operating Officer Howard Miller favorably, and felt even more betrayed by the announcement. Some vowed to press ahead with protest rallies before the board next week, and to launch other efforts.

Miller said he leveled with the students, telling them he could make no promises either way.

``I understand their disappointment,'' he said. ``They are innocent. They have been treated unfairly over the years. I understand their anger and I tried to reach out to them.''

Parents, teachers, school administrators and local politicians echoed the students' grief, anger and sense of betrayal. They said it was too soon to trust interim Superintendent Ramon Cortines and Miller's blueprint for new schools, or their assurances they would receive priority.

``There is a sense of institutional depression,'' said college counselor John Orendorff. ``It's just a sad, sad day in this community and a sad day at this school.''

Signs plastered on walls in need of maintenance echoed the cries of the 5,200 Belmont students and their parents, as well as the 3,000 students bused out of the community each day: ``We want a new school, which was promised to us, and we want it now.''

Principal Ignacio Garcia was still reeling at the announcement, saying he had not anticipated it coming so soon and was concerned with maintaining order.

``I just hope it's truly in the best interest of the students and that indeed politics did not play a significant part in the decision,'' Garcia said, saying the school is in crisis. ``There is not a single empty classroom in this school, not one.''

Students said they no longer know whom to listen to, and after waiting more than two decades for a new school don't understand why they now face moving to temporary quarters, and the prospect of long-term solutions they see as less attractive than the Belmont Learning Center.

``I think we're being written off,'' Fernandez said.

LISTING INSULTS

Fernandez and her friends - all members of Leadership, an elected group that oversees school events and functions - clicked off what they see as insults both to them and to their community, beginning with their feeling that the cost of the school, earning it the nickname Taj Mahal, is one of the roadblocks.

``You're right, it is a Taj Mahal,'' Fernandez said, her voice breaking. ``This was a promise to our community, it was to be the best high school, a state-of-the-art high school. Why doesn't it deserve to be in the Belmont community?''

Students said they were further confused over the position that Belmont could be made safe for administrators and not for them. They were unimpressed by Cortines' explanation that well-established toxic standards exist for adults, but not for children.

``If it's safe for warehouses and district offices, I don't understand why it's not safe for a high school,'' Fernandez said. ``Is that supposed to be noble, because they're going to give up their building for us and they're going to go over to this site? If it's not good enough for us, why is it good enough for them? Do they just want new offices?''

The students, many of whom have lived within a few blocks of the half-completed Belmont Learning Center for years and are skeptical about its dangers, said they suspect adult politics are being played at their expense.

As Belmont Leadership representative Xiomara Montes put it, adults don't seem all that concerned about the dangers associated with their current overcrowded high school. Students said they would be hard-pressed to make it out in an earthquake.

``You can't even jump out the windows,'' she said.

Added Walter Orellana, a senior in expository composition, ``It's business as usual.''

TEACHERS DISCOURAGED

Instructors, many of whom had worked hard on the academy curricula that were to provide the educational punch for the new center, also sounded discouraged and defeated. Miller said the academies will be retained, in part because of the strong endorsement he heard at the school.

Esther Soliman, who teaches English and is the lead teacher in the performing arts academy, said the promises of quick action to ease overcrowding are unsettling.

``Moving fast is not necessarily the right way of moving,'' she said.

And, underlying all the sadness was the suspicion that in richer, better-connected parts of the city the Belmont debacle wouldn't have happened in the first place.

``There's a lot of bitterness, and an understanding that the inequalities aren't going away,'' said Soliman, who has taught for 10 years at the school.

Orendorff, the counselor, said it was the angriest day of his life.

``They do this to us because they can,'' he said. ``It's devastating and depressing that this community doesn't have a voice raised for them.''

Local politicians, including City Councilman Mike Hernandez and school board member Victoria Castro, said they were unhappy with the decision.

``We still have children being bused around the city,'' Hernandez said. ``The initial question of providing classrooms for children is being ignored.''

Mayor Richard Riordan said he would support the final decision by Miller and the board. ``I have confidence in Howard Miller and his passion to do what's right for kids,'' Riordan said.

``If the board accepts his recommendation, we stand ready to help him find another school site.''

As parents began to learn of the recommendation, they stood with their children in protest.

Ana Fernandez's mother, Lupe Mendoza-Fernandez, said community members are exploring legal options. She said the ``roller coaster'' of emotions has given way to calm determination to fight for Belmont Learning Center.

For students and a community that have lived for generations with the Belmont dream, the hope of its realization could not be relinquished in a single day.

``No is not an option,'' Ana Fernandez said.

Standing next to her, wearing a black T-shirt emblazoned with ``LEADERSHIP,'' Ana Bernalez echoed, ``It's not over until it's built.''

- Staff Writer Rick Orlov contributed to this story.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo: (1) Student body Secretary Adriana Garcia, left, senior class President Ana Fernandez and Ana Bernalez were among the Belmont High students voicing their disappointment Thursday.

David R. Crane/Staff Photographer

(2) Counselor John Orendorff describes the gloomy mood at Belmont after the school board's intentions became known.

David R. Crane/Staff Photographer