STUDENT NUMBERS TO GROW SCHOOL DISTRICT FACING SURGE.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Antelope Valley Union High School District expects to spend nearly $2 million before September on relocatable classrooms to handle the influx of new students.

The district is projecting that its student population will grow more than 6 percent to 20,742 in the 2002-03 school year. By 2006, the district's enrollment is expected to top 25,900.

``It's startling,'' trustee Al Beattie said. ``It looks like a tsunami hitting us in a couple of years.''

The population at each of the district's six comprehensive schools is expected to grow by between 100 and 300 students, a district staff report said.

Estimates show Palmdale High School will be the largest with 3,538 students, followed by Highland High School at 3,241, the report said.

The district is asking voters on March 5 to approve a $103.6 million school construction bond measure that would pay for construction of a seventh comprehensive high school and a continuation school.

Under an interim housing plan unveiled last week, the district plans to add portable classrooms to all six campuses at a cost of $1.89 million, which will be paid for by developer fees assessed on new homes, said Jeff Foster, assistant superintendent for business services.

A total of 17 classrooms will be placed at Highland High School; 10 at Palmdale; nine at Lancaster High School; seven at Antelope Valley High school; three at Littlerock High School; and one at Quartz Hill High School, the report said.

Foster acknowledged that space on the campuses is tight.

``There's limited opportunities for additional buildings on all campuses. In a couple of cases, we are up against it. It's going to be a challenge to make it work,'' Foster said.

The district is attempting passage of the bond measure under Proposition 39, which requires 55 percent of the vote instead of the standard two- thirds majority.

If approved, the money would pay for the construction of William J. ``Pete'' Knight High School at 70th Street East and Avenue R-8. The school would house 3,000 students and is estimated to cost $70 million.

The bond also would pay for the construction of R. Rex Parris continuation high school at Avenue Q and Sixth Street East, and for two smaller campuses, one in Palmdale and one in Lancaster, for Phoenix High School, the district's last stop for expelled students.

It also would pay to renovate Antelope Valley, Palmdale and Quartz Hill high schools.

If a statewide bond measure is approved in November, the district could afford to build another high school, officials said.

Both the Knight and Parris projects have been approved by the state but are still awaiting state funding.