Enrollments Rise, but New Schools Do Not

In 1944, the Sulphur Springs Union School District, which established the first school in the Santa Clarita Valley in 1872, had 83 students and one school with two buildings.

Today the elementary district’s enrollment is 3,182. Students attend six schools, all so crowded that scores of trailers have been moved onto campuses for use as classrooms. Because of a housing boom that is expected to continue into the 21st Century, enrollment is expected to increase by more than 1,000 pupils by 1990, creating a need for at least two more schools.

After 1990, “we’ll grow almost the size of an elementary school each year,” said Supt. Robert Nolet. But, he added, the district has only 75% of the money needed to build one complete school.

The scenario is much the same at the other districts in the burgeoning Santa Clarita Valley--the Castaic, Newhall and Saugus elementary districts and the William S. Hart Union High School District. Most schools in the four districts are crowded above their capacities.

Enrollment to Double

Total enrollment in the five districts is projected to double from its present 21,500 to about 43,000 by the year 2010. To serve a student population that large, a report by Los Angeles County planners issued earlier this year projected that the Santa Clarita Valley will need 30 new elementary schools, three to four new junior high schools and three to four high schools.

The cost to build the new schools is estimated at $333 million to $384 million in today’s dollars--$36 million for a high school, $15 million for a junior high and $6 million for an elementary school.

“We just don’t have that kind of money,” Hart Supt. Clyde Smyth said. “And we don’t see it forthcoming from the state.”

Since California voters approved Proposition 13--the initiative cutting property taxes--in 1978, schools have had to look to the state for their financing, including funds for school construction. The proposition requires approval of two-thirds of the voters to issue bonds for new schools, a level of support that school administrators say they have little chance of obtaining.

Only one Santa Clarita Valley district--Castaic--has received any money from the state for school construction. The rest are waiting in a long line, district administrators said. School construction projects costing $3 billion are waiting to be financed by the state, but only $350 million is available at present, state education officials say.

Statewide, student enrollment in kindergarten through high school is expected to increase by 600,000 by 1994. Enrollment in the Los Angeles Unified School District alone is growing by 15,000 students a year--the equivalent of an average-sized school district.

‘Have to Be Realistic’

“I think eventually the state will have to step in, but we have to be realistic,” Nolet said. “Highways, sewers, schools and other infrastructure needs are all competing for state dollars.”

The Santa Clarita Valley school districts are counting on the courts to uphold taxes on developers, of up to $6,300 for each new residential unit, that were approved by area voters in June. But those taxes are facing legal challenges by two developer groups, the California Building Industry Assn. and the Building Industry Assn. of Southern California, raising a possibility that the funds may never be collected.

The developer groups maintain that the ballot measures are illegal and amount to “taxation without representation.” They have vowed to take the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary.

“It’s an issue of statewide importance to us,” said Richard Wirth, spokesman for the Building Industry Assn. of Southern California.

He said builders fear that other school districts in fast-growing areas will follow the lead of the Santa Clarita Valley and enact similar taxes because voters who are unwilling to tax themselves will not hesitate to stick newcomers with the bill for school construction.

Collection Delayed?

The builders’ lawsuit could delay collection of the tax for up to two years, even if the tax is upheld, school officials said. The school districts also have vowed to take their case to the high court should a lower court rule against the tax.

“What we tried to do was bring back some semblance of local control to our schools with the tax,” said Castaic Supt. Reed Montgomery. “Now, we have no control over school construction.”

None of the district administrators see the new City of Santa Clarita as slowing down the growth because most of the vacant land in the valley was omitted from the city’s boundaries. In Castaic’s case, Montgomery believes, the new city will speed up construction. Developers will scramble to complete their projects before the surrounding territory is annexed by the city or is declared subject to its jurisdiction under the “sphere of influence” rule, he said.

Still, district administrators are trying to make the best of the situation. They are collecting fees of $1.50 per square foot of residential construction, authorized for school districts by the state’s voters in November, 1986. But that tax must be split between the high school district, which serves the entire area, and the elementary districts. Administrators say the money raised from the state-sanctioned fee--an average of about $2,000 for each new home--will provide only one-third of the amount needed to finance school construction.

Meanwhile, each district faces the overcrowding problem in its own way.

The Sulphur Springs district, which serves most of Canyon Country and portions of Saugus, is using $3.8 million in bond money approved by voters before Proposition 13 to build one school--Pinetree Elementary--for students on its eastern boundary, Nolet said.

Another new school will be needed by the time Pinetree opens in September, but the district does not have the money to build it, Nolet said.

The district has six schools with an enrollment of 3,182 in kindergarten through sixth grade. By 2010, “we could have 12,000 kids,” Nolet said.

Like the other school districts, Sulphur Springs has developed plans independent of the school tax to cope with the crowding problem, at least in the short term.

“We’re increasing the capacity of present school sites by building permanent classrooms on existing campuses,” Nolet said. The district is also building bigger schools that will house more students and using more temporary classrooms on existing sites.

Single Campus

In Castaic, 1,009 kindergarten through eighth-grade students are educated on a single campus in 100 permanent buildings and 13 trailers. Montgomery said a new elementary school will open in January, 1989. That school is being built with $6.8 million in state funds, which Montgomery said were not easy to obtain.

“It took two years to get the paper work approved--from December, 1985, to November, 1987,” he said. “It’s a slow process. Lots of districts didn’t get the money. I have hopes of opening another school by 1991, but money’s tight.”

If the district does not receive funds for another school, Montgomery said, double sessions and year-round schools may be a reality in 1991.

The district serves areas in Castaic, both east and west of the Golden State Freeway, as well as the nearby community of Val Verde.

There are many open areas scheduled to be developed, Montgomery said. The Castaic Planning Advisory Committee has predicted that, at a minimum, about 8,500 dwelling units will be built in the district by 2010, adding 4,300 students.

“That’s the slow-growth scenario,” Montgomery said. “That would mean we would need a total of two middle schools and seven elementary schools.” He said he believes the growth rate will be higher, even double the advisory committee’s prediction.

Like the other districts, Castaic has had to be resourceful. For example, what used to be a bus warehouse has been turned into a woodworking shop for students. An airline cargo container serves as a student store.

The Saugus district serves 4,382 kindergarten through sixth-grade students in eight permanent schools and one temporary facility. The temporary school, the Santa Clarita Valley’s first school using only portable classrooms, opened in September in Seco Canyon. Four hundred children, who otherwise would have been bused to other campuses, are taught there, according to Arthur M. Clark, assistant superintendent.

The Seco Canyon school is a stopgap remedy, which will be closed when the James Foster School, now being built with funds predating Proposition 13, opens in July, 1989. By that time, Clark said, the district will probably need another school.

“We’re negotiating for another school site in Plum Canyon,” he said. “We may need two more by July, 1990, and three more beyond that right away.” Before the current population influx, the last new school built by the district was in 1971.

Last year, Clark said, the district’s classrooms were so crowded that assembly rooms, cafeterias and libraries were used for classrooms at three schools. He said that no longer is the case because the district has added more portable classrooms on existing campuses.

Crowding is alleviated, somewhat, because the Saugus district is the only one in the area that has year-round schools. In Saugus, “parents like that schedule,” Clark said, but proposals for year-round schools have proven controversial in the other districts.

By the year 2000, the Saugus district is expected to have an enrollment of 7,350.

“If we had the money, we’d like to start building another school right now,” Clark said.

The Newhall district is building a new elementary school, Valencia Valley, using a combination of bond funds predating Proposition 13 and state-sanctioned fees collected from developers. It is scheduled to open in September, with an enrollment of about 700, Supt. J. Michael McGrath said.

2 Schools Short

“We think it will open full,” he said. McGrath said the district will be two schools short by 1991.

“Our findings are prepared development by development,” he said. “We qualify for state funds for two schools. But there’s no money for them. The school tax is our only hope.”

The five schools in the district, which has an enrollment of 3,691 kindergarten through sixth-grade students, are over capacity by 11%, McGrath said.

Students at Newhall Elementary School, the most crowded facility, eat lunch in four shifts. Some students are forced to eat outside because of the lack of space, McGrath said. The school, built to house 710 students, has an enrollment of 902, he said.

McGrath predicted that in the future the districts will be forced to contract out for more services and centralize more operations to save money. One example in the planning stage is a cooperative cafeteria that will prepare food for students in the Newhall, Castaic and Sulphur Springs districts--the first joint cafeteria operation in Los Angeles County, McGrath said.

Joint Agency

“A joint powers agency for school food services will run the operation,” McGrath said. “Each school district will have a representative on the agency board. This not only will save money, but will cut down on bureaucracy. We’ll have to file only one report with the state, instead of three.”

In the William S. Hart Union High School District, where students from the four elementary districts eventually wind up, Smyth said that by the year 2000, the present enrollment of 8,900 will more than double to about 21,000.

The district, which has three high schools, one continuation school and three junior highs, “will need 7.5 high schools, two continuation high schools and six junior highs,” Smyth said.

“We’ll need a new high school in the western portion by 1991,” Smyth said. “I don’t see it happening. The problem is, we don’t see any money forthcoming.”

Hart is building a new district headquarters to alleviate some of the crowding at its schools. Buses and maintenance equipment will be taken off campuses and housed in the new district complex to make room for classrooms, Smyth said.

He, too, said all his financial problems will be solved if the courts uphold the developer tax.

The good reputation of Santa Clarita Valley’s schools is a strong selling point for new homes, Smyth noted. “If we lose the lawsuit and get no state money, developers are going to have to start telling home buyers that the schools are an abomination.

“Quality education and overcrowding do not go hand in hand. I cannot guarantee a quality education in overcrowded conditions,” he said.

SANTA CLARITA VALLEY SCHOOL ENROLLMENT

Enrollment trends for school districts since 1982-83 to present

1982-83 1983-84 1984-85 1985-86 1986-87 Castaic Union (K-8) 401 430 457 637 836 Newhall Union (K-6) 2,722 2,662 2,817 2,949 3,334 Saugus Union (K-6) 3,686 3,694 3,703 4,077 4,382 Sulphur Springs (K-6) 2,104 2,133 2,212 2,423 2,743 William S. Hart (K-12) 8,925 8,901 8,803 8,979 9,109

1987-88 Castaic Union (K-8) 1,009 Newhall Union (K-6) 3,679 Saugus Union (K-6) 4,756 Sulphur Springs (K-6) 3,182 William S. Hart (K-12) 8,964

Projected Enrollment

1988-89 1989-90 1990-91 1991-92 1992-93 Castaic Union 1,163 1,219 1,371 1,513 1,646 (Through 1991-93) 1988-89 1989-90 1990-91 1991-92 1992-93 Newhall Union 3,969 4,259 4,539 4,806 5,084 (Through 1992-93) 1988-89 1989-90 1990-91 1995-96 2000-1 Saugus Union 4,971 5,209 5,452 6,650 7,350 (After 1990 in five-year increments) 1988-89 1989-90 1990-91 Sulphur Springs 3,461 3,800 4,156 (Only available years) 1988-89 1989-90 1992-93 1994-95 2000-1 William S. Hart Union 9,917 11,592 13,726 17,066 21,020 (After 1990-92 in two-year increments; five-year after 1994-95)