OFFICIALS HAIL NEW SCHOOL; DISTRICT WILL LEASE FORMER RETAIL SITE.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer

As part of its plan to convert an empty drugstore to expand preschool classes, Palmdale School District also will use the space to serve special education students and house child care services.

Using the 31,000-square-foot former Payless drugstore at 47th Street East and Avenue S for the school facility was praised as contributing to Palmdale's economic development and bringing needed services to the east side.

``This reinforces Avenue S as a thriving corridor,'' Mayor Jim Ledford told school and business leaders who gathered at the site Friday. ``We appreciate the partnership in bringing this type of facility to the east side of town.''

The drugstore, which has been closed for about three years, was bought by Santa Barbara-based developer Richard McClean, who said the remodeling would cost more than $1 million.

Superintendent Nancy Smith said the district will lease the space for about $24,000 a month, with 60 percent paid by the district and the remainder from Head Start grants. The facility is scheduled to open in mid- to late August.

Day-care services will be open to children in the district's Head Start program whose parents are in the state's welfare-to-work program. The day care will serve about 90 children and employ 10 workers.

The special education program will serve about 40 preschool and primary grade students with disabilities and will have 12 to 15 staffers.

The Head Start and state preschool classes are early intervention programs that prepare 3- and 4-year-olds for a more structured kindergarten environment. Those classes will hold 288 students and 50 staff members.

There also will be space for staff meeting rooms and conference rooms for parent meetings. A covered patio at the front of the store will be converted to a play area.

The store is located in a commercial center that also has a supermarket, gas station, pizza restaurant, and a dry-cleaning business.

Albertson's assistant manager Dan LaPoint welcomed the district's plan, envisioning parents who drop off and pick up their children might make an additional stop at the market. The drugstore was the only vacant spot in the commercial complex.

``I'm very excited. It's a good thing for not only the community. It also should generate some business for us at Albertson's,'' LaPoint said. ``We like to see empty buildings getting filled up. It's a positive thing for the economy of our neighborhood.''

McClean, a former aerospace worker at Northrop Corp. in the 1950s, has been developing real estate in the Antelope Valley since 1961. He saw the project as a way of giving back to the community.

``It's not often we get to work on a project that is as meaningful as this is,'' McClean said.

Short of classroom space and money, the district has looked at several commercial sites to possibly turn into campuses.

The district previously had considered converting the former Smith's market at 20th Street East and Palmdale Boulevard into a campus, but that is no longer being considered after Ralphs Grocery Co. announced plans to open a new store at that location.

The Smith's building measures 73,000-square-feet and has been shuttered for about two years.

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PHOTO Palmdale school and city officials show plans for an educational facility planned for east side area.

John Lazar/Special to the Daily News