Santa Clarita Valley School Races Are Low-Key : Education: As urban sprawl marches on, each district faces the same challenge--serving a skyrocketing enrollment.

The Nov. 7 election is less than three weeks away, but school board elections in six school districts and one community college district in the Santa Clarita Valley have produced little, if any, high-profile campaigning so far.

But the sleepy campaign could awaken as Election Day nears. Contract negotiations between teachers and officials in the Newhall and Saugus elementary school districts are deadlocked. And the Newhall Teachers Assn., saying the district’s board needs new blood, is hoping to unseat at least one of three incumbents seeking reelection.

Association members, who have picketed outside district offices, will be walking precincts, handing out flyers and telephoning voters as the election nears, said Joan Hasler, one of the group’s negotiators. The group’s parent organization, the California Teachers Assn., has donated $300 to the campaign of Michael McCabe.

Candidates in some other races say they are waiting until the last minute to take their cause to the voters. “If you give them a flyer a month in advance, they’ll use it as scratch paper,” said Jane Pederson, a candidate for the school board in Castaic.

Pederson said her campaign signs will go up next week. She said other candidates have the same strategy.

Pat Willett, an eight-year incumbent in the Newhall School District, said she will rely on word of mouth in her campaign but will have volunteers hand out flyers and telephone voters. She agreed that the campaign in Newhall and neighboring districts has been unusually quiet this year.

“The incumbents haven’t been doing much,” she said.

There are 45 candidates running for 19 slots in the districts, which, regardless of size, are all trying to serve skyrocketing enrollments. Growth will be the main issue facing the trustees elected next month.

Officials from the valley’s five principal districts--William S. Hart, Newhall, Castaic, Saugus and Sulphur Springs--predict that they will need at least 13 new schools before 2000 to accommodate hundreds of new students.

The races include:

Newhall School District: Three incumbents are seeking reelection--Willett, Howard L. Hill and Charles E. Payne.

The district’s rapid growth created touchy political problems for the incumbents last year when the trustees had to redraw school attendance lines to accommodate the district’s newest and sixth school, which opened last fall. The debate over attendance lines split neighborhoods, angered many parents and produced months of acrimonious public hearings. In six months, the board had to redraw the lines four times.

Challenging the incumbents are Zandra B. Stanley, a homemaker; Leon Worden, a marketing and political researcher, and McCabe, a labor relations administrator.

The 153-member Newhall Teachers Assn., deadlocked in contract negotiations with the district, endorsed McCabe but declined to back Worden, said Hasler, one of the association’s negotiators. The association has yet to decide whether to support Stanley.

A candidates forum will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Valencia Valley School.

Saugus Union Elementary School District: Three incumbents seeking new terms are Betty L. Lund, Michael E. Rayfield and Marilynn K. Blaylock. They will face Antonio M. Martino, an engineer; Eileen Connolly, a self-described “concerned parent,” and Ralph Wilkin, a manager for Pacific Bell.

The Saugus Teachers Assn. is seeking a pay raise but district officials say they cannot meet the teachers’ demands. The two sides have been at an impasse for weeks, and teachers have staged demonstrations at recent trustee meetings. Even so, the association is not endorsing or opposing candidates.

A candidates forum will be held at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 1 at James M. Foster Elementary School.

Santa Clarita Community College District: Seven candidates are seeking two seats on the board of trustees, which oversees College of the Canyons.

In seat No. 1, incumbent John D. Hoskinson will face Andrew Martin, a rancher and insurance agent; Ernest Moreno, a college administrator and teacher, and Nancy Neff, a business administrator.

For seat No. 3, incumbent and board President Linda C. Cubbage will face Dan Brown, a college coach and businessman, and Donald Gaskin, an adult education administrator.

Voters may cast ballots for both seats.

College of the Canyons, like the elementary districts surrounding it, is growing rapidly. This month, state education officials declared the college the fastest-growing in the state. Now with 5,668 students, the college could have 15,000 within 10 years, college officials said.

A candidates forum will be held at noon Wednesday in the school cafeteria.

William S. Hart Union High School District: There is no contest this year in the district, where incumbents William S. Dinsenbacher, Sandra L. Loberg and Dennis V. King are running unopposed.

Sulphur Springs School District: At least one new trustee will be elected because Richard Keysor decided not to seek reelection.

Incumbents Art Wilde and Scott Seamons will face Rob Werner, an attorney; Kerry Clegg, a research biologist at Cal State Northridge, and Bill Rattazzi, president of a building company. The Sulphur Spring District Teachers Assn. and the association of non-teaching employees are endorsing Seamons, Wilde and Clegg.

A candidates forum will be held at 7 p.m. Oct. 30 at Valley View Elementary School.

Castaic Union School District: Challenger Jane Pederson, a community volunteer and former PTA president, will try to displace one of three incumbents running for reelection. They are Gloria E. Mercado, David E. Worthington and board President Irene L. Massey.

A candidates forum will be held at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 1 at Live Oak School.

Fourteen candidates are seeking office in two tiny rural school districts on the outskirts of the Santa Clarita Valley:

Soledad-Agua Dulce School District: Only one incumbent, Nancy Kelso, is running for another term in the district, which serves 1,500 students around Agua Dulce and Acton. Board members Cheryl Roeziger and Petty Fate are not seeking reelection.

The challengers are Jo Ann Baker, public speaker and writer; Laurie Browning, a volunteer elementary school aide; Timothy Millen, a businessman; Rebecca Small, a family coordinator; Mark Samskar, an electronics technician, and Ronnie Garner, a police captain.

Hughes-Elizabeth Lake Union School District: The incumbents are Richard Lewis, Lola J. Skelton Mantooth and Bryant D. Swenson. The challengers are Robert Janssen, a management consultant; Steve Nemback, a water plant operator; Sue Page, a teacher, and Wayne Prindle.