SCHOOL BUILDING IN LIMBO CONSTRUCTION FUNDS UNCERTAIN.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Palmdale School District officials want to move forward with building two more schools, but a Sacramento debate over financing school construction statewide is holding them up.

The two schools are Ana Verde School, a K-8 school proposed at Division Street and Rayburn Road, and Granite Hills School, a K-6 school the district wants to build at 67th Street East and Avenue R-8.

``Everything that can be done is being done to get schools built,'' Deputy Superintendent Bob Rice said. ``It's a matter of money.''

Trustees at last week's meeting approved reports for both schools that stated they would not pose significant harm to the environment and directed staff to implement the projects.

The Ana Verde and Granite Hills projects join two other district school projects that await funding from the State Allocation Board. The other two are Golden Poppy School, a K-8 campus near 62nd Street East and Avenue R-4, and Ponderosa School, a K-6 school at Pearblossom Highway and 37th Street East.

The funding situation is up in the air after legal challenges to the state's methods of allocating $1.3 billion in school construction funds.

After a lawsuit by Los Angeles parents, the state devised a new formula allocating money based on ``priority points.'' The new formula then was challenged in court by a coalition of school districts.

Palmdale and high school district officials said the change will likely delay their projects, while favoring larger, urban districts like the Los Angeles Unified School District.

``We anticipate Golden Poppy will be approved in March, and perhaps Ana Verde in June if there's any money left,'' Rice said. ``We have no problem with priority points, but points don't do you any good if there is no money left or if Los Angeles Unified gets it all.''

The $1.3 billion is what's left of Proposition 1A, the $6.7 billion state school construction bond measure approved by voters in 1998.

Golden Poppy will cost about $16.5 million, and Ana Verde about $18.5 million, Rice said. There are no cost estimates for Ponderosa and Granite Hills.

Under the state's ``hardship'' funding policy, for which the district has been approved, the state pays for two-thirds of the construction cost.

``We don't have the money available to pay the other third. We are trying to reduce the cost of the project to fall within what the state will pay,'' Rice said.

The district is seeking planning money for Granite Hills and Ponderosa. Those two projects will not be built for another three to four years or more, Rice said.