DISTRICT TO FUND EXCHANGE PROGRAM INTERACTION PLANNED BETWEEN SAUGUS HIGH, CHINESE SCHOOL.

Byline: Carol Rock Staff Writer

SAUGUS - The Hart High School District will pay $19,100 to start an exchange program between Saugus High School and Gao Xin High School in China, a plan expected to prepare students for future business and cultural interaction with the Far East.

The exchange will involve four to six Chinese students coming to Santa Clarita from August to December. In the summer of 2006, eight to 10 Saugus or Valencia High students will travel to Xi'an, China, for six weeks of summer school.

In addition, the Chinese teacher visiting in the fall will teach enrichment courses to instructors in the William S. Hart Union High School District, according to the plan approved last week by the school board.

Saugus Principal Bill Bolde and Valencia Principal Paul Priesz made their initial pitch for the program at a Jan. 19 board meeting. Patty Stephenson of Saugus High, who traveled to China in 2004 with Bolde to meet school officials there, is the proposed coordinator of the program.

``Equity and honor are important,'' Bolde said. ``They send fewer students to stay longer, we send more students to stay shorter. Our kids will be treated like royalty, so we need to do the same for the visitors.

Board member Gloria Mercado-Fortine had some misgivings about the expenditures, particularly in light of tight budgets, but made the approval unanimous.

``It's great that we want to reach out to China, but we're having a difficult time reaching out to our own kids,'' Mercado-Fortine said. ``We're talking about funding a full-time coordinator for diversity. That's a lot of money. Cultural exchange is a great thing, but there is much to be done in our own district.''

Despite some hesitation, the board unanimously approved the $19,000 expenditure to launch the program, asking Bolde to come back to the board before extending the program into coming years.

The Xi'an Gao Xin No. 1 High School is already exchanging students with Brookline High School in Boston, as well as campuses in Canada, Russia and Australia.

Xi'an (pronounced shee-an,) in the Shaanxi province southwest of Beijing, is known as the home of the terra-cotta warriors, an assembly of nearly 8,000 life-size clay figures buried surrounding the tomb of the first Chinese emperor, Qin Shihuangdi. The discovery was made in 1974 by peasants digging a well and is considered one of the most notable archaeological sites in the world.

The overall cost of the exchange program is estimated at $32,900, according to a budget presented at the Feb. 16 board meeting. Funding is being solicited from the Freeman Foundation, which has a history of financing these exchanges, and a few local businesses with vested interests in China have pledged financial support.

``The world is getting smaller,'' said Dan Goetz, president of Ultra Violet Devices Inc., which has pledged financial support, along with Gruber Systems. ``Ten of my senior staff members are studying Mandarin. It's an important part of business. A half-dozen companies in the (Valencia) industrial center are already dealing with China; several components and finished assemblies from UVDI are made in China.''

Goetz also said that during his last trip to China, he visited schools and talked with kindergartners who spoke English, which convinced him the exchanges were worthwhile.

The $19,100 allocated will cover 20 percent of the project coordinator cost; the salary and travel expenses of a teacher to accompany the Saugus students; transportation costs for the Chinese students when they visit cultural landmarks in Southern California; and hot lunches for the Chinese students and teacher.

Carol Rock, [phone]

carol.rock(at)dailynews.com