NEW CAMPUS PROPOSED FOR PEARBLOSSOM : DISTRICT TO WEIGH CHARTER CAMPUS.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer

A group of parents is seeking to establish a self-governing school in the Keppel Union School District, where they can create their own academic programs without adhering to most state rules.

The proposed charter school, which would serve nearly 70 students in kindergarten through eighth grade in a converted house, would be able to design its own blueprint for education tailored to the individual needs of children, organizers said.

``It is an alternative to what public schools have to offer,'' said Kevin Montgomery, 36, one of the parents involved in the effort. ``For the most part, it would institute individualized learning. It would be something geared toward the individualized needs of the child.''

The proposal will be discussed by Keppel trustees at a board meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday at the district office, 34004 128th St. E.

The proposal would mark the second effort in the Antelope Valley to establish a charter school.

A committee of teachers at Highland High School applied to become a charter school, but high school trustees in January 1994 rejected the proposal, saying it lacked adequate financial information.

Under a 1992 state law, the charter concept allows schools to experiment with different administrative and educational approaches. A new school develops its own charter, with district approval, which frees the new school from following most education regulations and policies.

The law placed a limit at 100 schools, but the state Board of Education has been granting waivers to get around the limit, officials said. As of March, there were 109 approved charter schools in California with an enrollment of 36,308 students.

Tom Niekamp, Keppel's assistant superintendent for business services, said a charter school is allowed by law to operate without following many of the regulations under which public schools have to function.

``The advantage is they can waive regulations in the state education code, in curriculum, in the teachers you hire, the way you structure classes,'' Niekamp said.

The parents would need to get approvals from the Keppel school board and the state Board of Education before proceeding with the plan.

Montgomery, a sergeant with airport police at Los Angeles International Airport, said the charter school plan was the brainchild of four people, one of them his wife, Stephanie.

The school would have two teachers and four facilitators, instructors who are near acquiring their required teaching credentials, Montgomery said.

The school would be in Littlerock in a vacant residence converted into a school in the 9800 block of East Avenue Q-4, Montgomery said. He said the application for the charter school was made through the Keppel district because he and his wife live in the area.

Montgomery said he and his wife have a daughter in the fifth grade at Daisy Gibson School. Their two older children are in high school.

Bettie Hensley, president of the Keppel Union Teachers Association, said she thinks the plan is a good idea.

``I think it's a wonderful program,'' Hensley said. ``It's another alternative for parents. As long as we keep everybody happy and are doing a good job, why not?''