DISTRICT TO URGE BOND PASSAGE AT MEETING TONIGHT.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

Superintendent Marc Winger and school board members tonight will try to convince residents of this community, which has a 4-year-old school, to tax themselves further for the sake of the district.

At a 7:30 p.m. meeting of the Stevenson Ranch Town Council, Winger and board members Ron Winkler - a resident of the community west of the Golden State Freeway - and Steve Tannehill, whose child attends the school, will make their case in support of the $35.5 million bond during the session at the elementary school.

The local tax will be put to voters who live within the Newhall School District in a June election.

Trying to convince Stevenson Ranch homeowners - who pay Mello Roos fees that can range from $2,000 to $3,500 a year - to vote in favor of yet another tax will be a challenge, the superintendent admitted.

``It's going to be the toughest sell,'' Winger said. ``If you're thinking about it in terms of, What's it going to do in my own back yard? then you're thinking of it in a very narrow way.''

There are nearly 6,000 students and seven schools in the Newhall district, and Stevenson Ranch Elementary is the newest. The bond would fund modernizations and expansions, especially at the district's oldest schools, but Winger noted that about $1 million in projects are slated for Stevenson Ranch Elementary.

``We're the only community in the district that has pretty hefty Mello Roos,'' said Gary Schamber, who holds one of 11 seats on the town council. ``People are paying so much money that they're putting on the brakes.''

Schamber said Stevenson Ranch residents might chafe that the proposed bond would cost property owners $43 per $100,000 of the assessed values of their homes - considering houses in the community sell for up to $350,000 to $450,000.

``It's least fair to Stevenson Ranch because we're going to be getting the least out of this bond, but we're going to be carrying the heaviest load,'' Schamber said.

``Our main concern in the entire valley is (school) overcrowding, and this bond is not going to do anything to (alleviate) overcrowding,'' Schamber added. ``If the $35.5 million was going towards helping relieve some of the overcrowding, then (residents) would probably vote for it.''

Many Stevenson Ranch residents would prefer to see the bond revenue evenly split between upgrades and classroom additions, he said.

Winger said Stevenson Ranch residents might consider that the district worked hard on their behalf, negotiating with developers to get that school built - and to get commitments to build another elementary school in the coming years - all while their children were attending Old Orchard and Valencia Valley schools.

Now it's their turn to think of the welfare of the rest of the district, he said.

``We're appealing to that sense of the good of the community,'' Winger said. ``This is a tax that goes right toward the local community. It's not like it goes to Sacramento or Washington, D.C., and you're not sure what (the money) does.''