HIGH SCHOOL KIDS LEFT WITH NO GYM IN DISTRICT GLITCH STRUCTURE NOT OK'D BY STATE.

Byline: Carol Rock Staff Writer

ACTON - Students at Vasquez High School not only have suffered the insult of three failed school construction bond elections, but also were locked out of their gymnasium for a second time two weeks ago because of the district's failure to get state approval for the temporary structure.

``They are unhappy and disappointed that their community doesn't support them,'' Superintendent Linda Wagner said of the kids.

Wagner has the task of trying to research and resolve the dispute that centers on whether the district submitted the temporary structure, which was erected in 1998, for approval. The Department of the State Architect says it wasn't submitted, and that the district was advised in a November 2002 letter.

``We told them that the gym had been built without review and approval,'' said Shaf Ullah, supervising structural engineer for the state office. ``There are unresolved issues dealing with the structure, fire, life safety and accessibility. We need to look at the big picture.''

Wagner discovered the inconsistencies last week. Realizing that the board trustees could be liable should someone be injured in the gym, she immediately shuttered the building.

The rented building is owned by Leasing Structures, to which the district pays $65,000 a year under the terms of a 10-year lease.

``The district is examining our options,'' Wagner said. ``Most of the experts are telling us that the safest thing would be to tear it down, which leaves the kids in the same place they are now, with no gym.''

Ullah said that plans for a permanent building were submitted a year ago, in anticipation of the passage of a bond measure. He added that his office regularly gets calls from parents wondering why the building isn't given approval simply because the students need a gym.

In March, voters rejected Measure S, a $13.1 million bond that would have been used to build a permanent school on the windy Red Rover Mine Road campus. In November 2002, a $21.5 million bond went down in defeat, as did another $13.1 million proposal in 2001.

``The students are upset that there is a vocal minority that has persuaded voters to turn down the bond,'' said Tim Jorgenson, director of Vasquez High's Associated Student Body. ``We have to explain to them that this is how democracy works, but in the meantime, they have no place to go.''

Jorgenson also coaches the boys' basketball program at the school and just finished sign-ups. The season is supposed to start Nov. 13.

``The kids are working hard, he said. ``They're excited because the team made it to CIF (playoffs) for the first time last year and now we don't have a gym to play in,'' he said. ``But the community is telling them, We're interested in kids, but get your money somewhere else.''

Jorgenson said that the current board and district officials have nothing to do with the financial quagmire of previous administrations.

``They're just trying to deal with something they inherited,'' he said. ``It's a disappointing process for the kids. We use that gym for everything: dances, career days, science fairs, athletics. The YMCA and other community groups use it all the time. But there's a small group of people who are saying, 'Fix your house,' and they're marginalizing the kids' safety.''

In the meantime, he is working with coaches at other schools in the Hart and Antelope Valley districts to get court time, combining practice for junior varsity and varsity teams in the evenings from 7 to 9:30.

``Eight or nine years ago, some mistakes were made, but you can't take it out on the kids now,'' he said. ``The high school is the only one that's growing in population.''

Jorgenson said that if the bond measure had passed, it would probably have cost each homeowner $250 a year. ``That's a color TV or three nights out on the town,'' he said.

``When I go to board meetings, I tell people the kids are the ones they are hurting and the adults need to work things out,'' he said. ``You have your house because you were a beneficiary of public education. You need to do the same for the 2,000 kids in the system now.''

Carol Rock, [phone]

carol.rock(at)dailynews.com

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The gym was closed by the superintendent, who was told that the structure hasn't been submitted for approval.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer