EDITORIAL ULTIMATE BETRAYAL THE REVIVED BELMONT LEARNING CENTER IS THE CURSE OF THE LAUSD.

WITH their decision to complete the Belmont Learning Center, the flip- flopping Los Angeles school board and Superintendent Roy Romer have committed the ultimate betrayal of parents, students, teachers and taxpayers.

This betrayal began years ago, when the board decided to deprive teachers and students of classroom funds, using the money to buy the land that now houses the infamous school atop an earthquake fault and oil field spewing dangerous gases.

Now the board has compounded that betrayal by signing off on a new Belmont plan that would put a 2,100-seat high school and 500-seat academy on the site, as well as a library/auditorium, parent center and 10- to 12-acre park.

The park will be run by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, for which it will pay a symbolic $1 a year - symbolic of what little regard the LAUSD has for taxpayer money that's supposed to educate children.

The original, unfinished Belmont Learning Center already has cost taxpayers at least $166 million and probably quite a bit more if a true accounting were made. At that price, it's the nation's costliest school ever built or, in this case, not built.

Completing the project is expected to cost (at least) $111 million more, which brings the total price to nearly $300 million - or an astonishing $100,000 per seat.

Romer and the board now plan to spend Measure K funds to help pay the bill, despite repeated promises that none of the bond money would be used for the star-crossed project.

Chalk it up as just another betrayal.

But the even greater betrayal is the LAUSD's violation of the public trust.

The board had previously decided - twice - to abandon Belmont due to the health and environmental risks.

That was then. Now, expedience rules the day.

Without thorough study of the risks at hand, the board has pushed forward, rushing to complete a school that will be a target for lawsuits every time somebody gets a headache.

And that's the best-case scenario.

What if there's an earthquake and the LAUSD's disregard of the danger leads to deaths and injuries? What if the explosive and toxic gases seeping up from below kill or sicken children of staff members?

Given the flagrant disregard of safety and common sense, the liability will be enormous.

The real victims are the students and parents in the Belmont area who have waited for years for a new school, and very likely will wait a lot longer if someone sues to block construction for one of 100 reasons.

For a man of his age, Romer has proved himself to be quite an acrobat on Belmont, turning somersaults and handstands to please various special interests.

He didn't start this monument to the failure of the LAUSD, but he clearly intends to finish it.

Maybe it should be called the Roy Romer Learning Center.

That way, long after Romer has returned to his ranch in Colorado, everyone will know whom to thank - or blame.