RELIEF FOR POLY HIGH? DISTRICT EYES SITE L.A. REJECTED EARLIER.

Byline: Harrison Sheppard Staff Writer

SUN VALLEY - Desperate for high schools in the northeast San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles Unified is close to signing a $50 million deal for a city office building that was rejected as a police dispatch center because of seismic safety issues.

Negotiators are putting the final touches on an offer for the Anthony Office Building at 8501 Arleta Ave., which is owned by the Department of Water and Power. The building was constructed in 1992 for $57 million.

The district wants to convert part of the building into an academy-style school for 700 to 1,000 students, which would help relieve overcrowding at nearby Francis Polytechnic High School. The campus is short of space for 850 students, making it one of the most crowded in the San Fernando Valley.

The proposed deal would include a lease allowing the DWP to continue occupying two-thirds of the building, which Superintendent Roy Romer said would in turn pay for about two-thirds of the purchase financing.

It would also allow the district to start a career-oriented program in which students can interact with DWP professionals, he added.

``It would be a tremendous opportunity for them to not only get a good education, but to have some real-world relationships,'' Romer said.

The negotiations are taking place against a backdrop of a severe school space crunch throughout the Northeast San Fernando Valley.

A surge in student population is now rolling through the elementary schools districtwide and will hit the already overcrowded high schools by 2005. If no new high schools are built, there will not be enough seats for 29,000 students. Earlier this year, the district launched an effort to build space for 65,000 students in five years.

Among obstacles to the search for sites are toxic problems, unwilling sellers and community opposition.

Concerns about the Anthony building's seismic safety and the cost to buy and renovate it prompted the city of Los Angeles last year to reject the site for a new police dispatching center. LAUSD officials, however, said they believe the cost is reasonable and a structural engineering firm has concluded the building is safe.

A study last year by city Chief Administrative Analyst C. William Mercer, prepared for two committees overseeing the dispatch center search, questioned whether the property was ``located on land subject to liquefaction during a seismic event.'' The DWP at the time said it was built on safe soil, but a city Web site indicated it was located in a liquefaction zone, Mercer said. An independent appraiser was unable to locate a soil report.

But a structural engineering firm retained by the district, Los Angeles- based Nabih Youssef & Associates, reviewed soil reports, DWP studies and state Department of Conservation maps, concluding that it was not in a seismic liquefaction area, and met earthquake codes for a school building.

The Mercer report also said the property was professionally appraised at $36.3 million.

Romer, however, said the district's own experts have examined the property and feel the $50 million price tag is fair.

``We have checked out prices on land,'' Romer said. ``It truly is priced very well.''

School board member David Tokofsky criticized the deal, saying the district should have leased the space, rather than paying $50 million, while looking for a better permanent site. Having two schools so close together, he said, is ``warehousing'' students.

But school board member Caprice Young, whose district includes the building, said that was the best site that was available immediately. She noted that the DWP's lease payments will pay for most of the purchase.

``If he wants to see warehousing kids, he should go to the existing Poly and see how crowded it is,'' Young said. ``My goal is to relieve that overcrowding as quickly as possible.''

Poly is currently at capacity with 3,634 students this year, on a year- round schedule. Teachers not only rotate classrooms with the end of each track's vacation period, but also change rooms within the course of a day, Principal Christine Clark said.

About 850 students who live in the Poly area attend other schools because of overcrowding, she said. The new building would be a ``wonderful help,'' Clark said, if the details can be worked out properly.

Poly will likely have to share athletic fields and other facilities with the new school, which is across the street.

Angelo Bellomo, LAUSD director of environmental health and safety, said his office is still reviewing the site, but has not yet found any toxic materials in the soil or any serious problems that would prevent it from being used as a school.

One concern, however, is vehicle emissions from the adjacent freeway, as well as gases from the city-owned Sheldon-Arleta Landfill. The district, he said, has been pushing the city to increase its monitoring of the landfill.

The state Department of Toxic Substances Control also has to review the site. The sale also requires City Council approval.

POTENTIAL SITES

The Los Angeles Unified School District is studying 18 potential school sites in the San Fernando Valley to relieve overcrowding. This is one in an occasional series examining those sites.

Got a suggestion for where the district should build a school in the Valley? Want to comment on building and facilities issues facing LAUSD? E-mail us at dnlaschools(at)dailynews.com or write: Daily News, attn: Education Editor, P.O. Box 4200, Woodland Hills, CA 91365-4200.

CAPTION(S):

box, map

Box: POTENTIAL SITES (See text)

Map: James H. Anthony Center, Polytechnic High School

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