LAUSD GETS GRIM NEWS ON BELMONT; PANEL SAYS DISTRICT MUST FOLLOW RULES OR ELSE.

Byline: Terri Hardy Daily News Staff Writer

A state funding board played political hardball with Los Angeles school officials Wednesday, saying the LAUSD must essentially start from scratch on the Belmont Learning Complex - or risk being denied as much as $33 million for its construction.

If the Los Angeles Unified School District does not go back and allow competitive bidding for the project, now 35 percent complete, it would mean that the entire cost of construction must come from the same fund as textbooks and salaries, said Assemblyman Scott Wildman, D-Glendale, a funding board member.

``The LAUSD needs to follow the same rules and regulations that any other district has to follow,'' Wildman said.

The State Allocation Board's demand was grim news for LAUSD officials who attended the meeting in Sacramento. Instead of risking a vote, they opted to withdraw their request for funds for the time being.

``Today's action by the SAB permits the district to take stock of all its options including the possibility that we will have to fund Belmont's construction costs through the LAUSD's general fund,'' district spokesman Erik Nasarenko said.

Belmont is America's most expensive high school, but cost estimates differ. LAUSD officials say the price tag is $87 million, whereas Wildman says it is $99 million. The state already has granted the district $61 million to pay for land costs.

Plans for the complex at Temple Street and Beaudry Avenue downtown at one time included housing, recreational facilities and retail space, but those components have been scrapped, district officials said.

While the State Allocation Board usually funds 50 percent of construction costs, it is only willing to pay half of the average cost of a typical high school, about $66 million.

LAUSD went before the State Allocation Board asking for a zero allocation for the school - a promise that if a facilities bond is passed the state will pay for some of its construction costs.

Rather than using competitive bidding as required by state law, LAUSD's Board of Education sought a developer that would design and build the entire project, as well as assume risks for the non-school portions.

Attorneys for the district have said because Belmont included the retail space and other components the LAUSD could use this ``design-build'' method to chose a developer. The LAUSD selected developer Kajima International although that company offered the highest cost estimate for the school - exceeding the second-highest estimate by $31 million, Wildman said.

Nasarenko said rebidding the project at this late juncture would be ``cost-prohibitive and legally as well as contractually problematic.''

``At this point, the district will have to confer with its attorneys to see what course to pursue,'' Nasarenko said.

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PHOTO As work proceeds on the downtown Belmont Learning Complex, lawmakers Wednesday told the LAUSD they could lose funding.

Hans Gutknecht/Daily News