ROBBERS HIT 39 SCHOOLS OVER HOLIDAY WEEKEND.

Byline: Kimberly Kindy Daily News Staff Writer

Students and staff at Zane Grey High School in Reseda hustled to reassemble the class yearbook Tuesday after the computer containing the finished pages was stolen over the holiday weekend, along with $5,000 in other high-tech gear.

At Encino Elementary School, school staff swept up shards of glass and began surveying the classrooms for stolen items after burglars hit that school as well, walking away with 11 portable CD players and two VCRs.

The two schools were among 39 in the district - 13 in the San Fernando Valley - hit by burglars over the three-day Memorial Day weekend. One-third had high-tech equipment stolen.

``There are burglars out there who are entering schools just for the computers, things that can be resold very quickly on the street,'' said Los Angeles Unified School District Sgt. Robert Denardo. ``It's happening in the Valley and in the inner city. It's become common.''

Arrests were made in about a dozen of the burglaries after alarm systems or alert neighbors tipped off police. Just two of those arrests were made in the Valley cases.

Most of the stolen high-tech equipment was difficult to come by. District funds rarely cover such items so schools must hold their own fund-raisers or depend on community donations.

For Zane Grey, a three-room continuation school, replacing the two Pentium computers, two televisions and VCR that were stolen will be particularly difficult.

``They don't have a booster club. They don't have a parent-teacher group. Most of the students aren't from affluent families,'' said Shel Mende, a co-owner of Triad Graphic Partners in Tarzana, which prints the school's yearbook for free. ``This is a great little school that really helps kids. They need help. Hopefully something will happen.''

On Tuesday, the school's yearbook teacher adviser and student editor huddled over the principal's computer, trying to piece together portions of the yearbook text and pictures.

The yearbook is due to Mende's shop Friday and yearbook adviser Paulette Blumstein hopes that some smaller version can be pulled together for the roughly 80 students who attend Zane Grey.

``Some of the work was backed up on floppy disks. But they stole our best computers,'' said Blumstein. ``This really makes you feel empty. It's a disappointment.''

Zane Grey and Encino Elementary were described by district police as among the worse hit in the Valley.

At Encino Elementary, half the classrooms were burglarized.

But, unlike Zane Grey where forced entry created minimal damage, someone used a crowbar at Encino Elementary to force open windows and doors and to break the locks off cabinets, leaving splintered wood and glass throughout the school.

``They really damaged a couple of door jams,'' said Principal John Hall. ``They forced open windows and doors and took VCRs and CD players, and all the CDs - all the music.''

Hall said all the items were purchased by the school's Parent Teacher Student Association. The group was reviewing its funds Tuesday to see if some of the items could be immediately replaced.

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PHOTO Arthur Mencher, principal of Zane Grey High School in Reseda, views damage from a robbery.

Hans Gutknecht/Daily News