HART EYES YEAR-ROUND SCHEDULES; DISTRICT FORMS BACKUP PLAN.

Byline: Angela M. Lemire Staff Writer

Alternative scheduling is the Hart district's likely backup plan if its $52 million school construction bond fails at the polls.

Double sessions, year-round schooling or college-style block scheduling would be instituted on severely crowded campuses within two years, and spread to all junior and senior high schools several years later, William S. Hart Union High School District officials said.

``If the bond fails, we will not have the funding to secure state matching dollars to build schools. That will mean some dramatic changes in the way we schedule our days,'' Assistant Superintendent Leslie Crunelle said.

If Measure A fails, Superintendent Bob Lee says there's only enough money ``in the bank'' from developer fees to provide a 50 percent match of state funds to build one junior high school in Valencia, Rio Norte.

New junior high schools cost around $25 million these days, while high schools can cost up to $50 million to build, according to school officials.

The district's $1 million to $2 million set aside in its general fund could pay for modernization and repairs for one or two schools, officials said, noting that repairs and upgrades are needed for such amenities as roofing, air ventilation systems, carpets, electrical wiring for computers, bathrooms and science labs throughout schools.

``We would have to decide what are the most critical repairs at each school and go from there,'' Crunelle said. ``The same list we've included in the bond package would greatly be reduced, and the work will take longer to accomplish.''

Funding would be drawn from the district's general fund, which is amassed through local taxes, state apportionment and federal subsidies for certain programs. Current laws don't allow school districts to apply developer fees toward renovations or repairs. The fees must be used for construction related to school district growth, she noted.

Measure A has drawn some opposition at recent community meetings.

Disagreement has centered on the proposed site for a new high school in Golden Valley for environmental reasons, as it would be located across the street from capped oil wells.

City resident Cam Noltemeyer also has argued that taxpayers are being asked to pay additional money to tap funds from the taxpayer-funded Proposition 1A, a state measure approved by voters last year to fund public school construction statewide.

Measure A must garner two-thirds of the vote to pass.

The Hart district is seeking to incur $52 million in bonded debt to match $127.45 million in state funds to build three new high schools and two junior high schools, plus repair and expand all campuses. The bond, along with $61.3 million in developer fees and the state match, in total would fund a $240,827,000 capital improvement package.

If Measure A passes, the Hart District would be eligible to receive 50 percent matching funds from the state for new school construction and 80 percent matching funds for improvements to existing schools.

Overcrowding conditions are expected to worsen in the next few years when the swelling populations at the elementary schools enter junior high, district spokeswoman Theresa Todd said.

Placerita Junior High was built 36 years ago for 832 students and is expected to house more than 2,000 students in five years; Saugus High School, built in 1975 for 1,564 students, is expected to exceed more than 3,000 students by 2004, according to school officials.

Portable classrooms primarily have been used to solve overcrowding problems, but school officials predict that any available space on school campuses is expected to be depleted after the next school year.

``We won't have any groundspace left for relocatables without taking parking or field spaces,'' Crunelle said. ``Next year it's going to be tight as it is.''

Double sessions would split student bodies into two groups that would attend five- to six-hour morning or afternoon sessions, bringing students on campus as early as 7 a.m. and keeping them there as late as 6 p.m.

Multi-track, year-round schedules would maintain the traditional school-day length, but stagger students' vacations throughout the year so some groups would take classes over summer months.

A third option being studied by the Hart district is the community college-model school day, in which upperclassmen would form their own schedules on an open enrollment basis. That would keep campuses open for 12 hours each day, rather than six hours, and allow students to have extended periods of free time between classes.

Many school districts across the nation for many years have used year-round, multitrack models with success, while fewer opt for double sessions or college-style block scheduling, Crunelle said.

Varsity sports teams and extracurricular activity schedules often are worked around the alternative schedules, with students attending practices and competitions during their ``off-track'' breaks, or practices pushed to evening hours for double sessions.

All options would reduce the schools' availability for community uses, including meetings, concerts and theatrical events. School officials estimated that more than one hundred community groups utilize facilities in the Hart district.

``If we can't build schools, then we'd have to figure out how we could best maximize our facilities to suit our needs and get students in classrooms,'' Crunelle said.

Next month's Measure A election is regarded by district officials as a particular challenge because of the two-thirds majority approval it needs, as well as the district's sparse and checkered history on bond passage.

Voters in 1995 defeated the district's most recent attempt to raise nearly $40 million in tax revenue for new school construction and repairs at its junior and senior high schools.

That measure would have enabled the district to levy a tax rate that voters in 1975 approved with a $535,000 bond for Saugus High School repairs. Had voters in 1995 approved the extension, the special tax levy would have ended in 1999 because the extension would have been granted for the last four years of life on the 25-year-old 1975 bond.

The 1995 measure failed to muster a majority vote.

The 1975 bond - to be paid off in early 2000 - is the only bond passed for the Hart district.