STATE REPORT CHIDES L.A. UNIFIED; DISTRICT TAKEN TO TASK FOR NOT BUILDING ENOUGH NEW SCHOOLS.

Byline: Terri Hardy Daily News Staff Writer

Although the Los Angeles school district's budget and enrollment have grown exponentially since 1981, the district has ``lagged significantly behind'' in building schools and modernization projects, according to a state report released late Monday.

Assemblyman Scott Wildman, D-Glendale, chairman of the committee that authored the report, said figures provided by the Los Angeles Unified School District show it has spent $1.5 billion over the past 15 years - resulting in a net gain of only seven elementary schools and additions at 44 others.

During that period, the district's enrollment rose by 140,602.

``I'm extremely troubled that the LAUSD appears that it has not built the number of schools kids need, especially in an era when student enrollment is growing rapidly,'' said Wildman, chairman of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee.

LAUSD spokesman Brad Sales, who had not seen the report, questioned the numbers in the study and said the lack of new facilities was not a fault of the district.

``The California Legislature failed the LAUSD by not providing a significant facilities bond until two years ago - and even that was not that significant,'' Sales said.

He declined to comment further until he sees the complete report.

The district itself recently released its own Master Plan for Facilities, which called for 51 new schools to be built over the next decade at a cost of $1.8 billion.

The report issued Monday, titled ``Where Has All the Money Gone?: School Construction in the Los Angeles Unified School District'' is an initial study that provides information about school numbers and costs. Further reports will include conclusions and recommendations, as well as a look into specific projects such as the Belmont Learning Complex, Wildman said.

Now under construction in downtown Los Angeles, Belmont is the most expensive high school in the country at a total cost of nearly $200 million.

On Wednesday, the district will seek state funds from the State Allocations Board for the controversial high school. At the meeting, a report will be presented on the selection process of Belmont's developer, Wildman said.

In Monday's report, cost was cited as a problem for the LAUSD. The report found that the cost of LAUSD schools exceeds the average price for campuses throughout California - even when land costs were factored out.

For example, the state average price per pupil for an elementary school is $10,836, whereas the LAUSD spends an average of $14,455.

Wildman said LAUSD figures showed that costs for schools varied greatly, a factor that raised eyebrows among the committee, Wildman said.

Costs over the past decade have ranged from $10.4 million to $36 million for elementary schools.