DISTRICT MAY ADD SUMMER CLASSES.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

The Hart school district is considering a plan to offer an assortment of fee-based summer school classes that would add variety to the usual fare of academic and remedial courses that are provided free.

The William S. Hart Union High School District would form a partnership with a college or university, which would administer the program and charge tuition for its selection of specialized classes that would be held on the Canyon, Hart, Saugus and Valencia high school campuses and be open to all district students.

The school board tentatively approved the plan this month, authorizing Hart district director of curriculum Gary Wexler to pursue a partnership with a college that could offer the ``enrichment'' classes.

Some possibilities could include computer classes, photography, art, weightlifting, physical conditioning and a preparation course for the Scholastic Assessment Test, Wexler said. Administrators may survey the Hart district's 13,200 students to find out what classes would be popular enough that parents would be willing to pay the tuition.

The district still plans to offer dozens of free summer school classes, a curriculum for which the state picks up the tab. Enrollment is limited due to scarce funds and a state-mandated attendance cap.

Likely free course offerings would include remedial English, math, reading and writing, and standard classes in U.S. history, American government, economics, freshman and sophomore English, basic math skills, earth science, biology, physical science, algebra, driver's education, and ROTC.

There also would be a handful of free classes for junior high school students.

Wexler said that other school districts, including Pasadena, Beverly Hills, Alhambra and Las Virgenes, have made agreements with colleges for tuition-based classes. Fees for a six-week class haven't been set, but could run in the $300 range, Wexler said.

Last summer, 2,500 students took summer school at three district campuses: 1,350 at Valencia High, 730 at Canyon High and 450 at La Mesa, Wexler said.

This year, he estimated 2,100 high school students and 600 junior high school students would enroll in the free summer school classes. The fee classes could attract an additional 500 to 1,000 students, Wexler said.

The free high school summer session will run six weeks, from June 23 to Aug. 1. The junior high program will be four weeks, from June 23 to July 18, Wexler said.

The tuition classes would be offered during the same six-week schedule at the high school session, from 8 a.m. to 12:25 p.m.

Wexler said he expects to report back to the school board in late March with a recommendation about which college to choose as a summer school partner and how much to charge in tuition.