ELECTIONS LANCASTER SCHOOLS : Defeat of Bond Issue May Mean All-Year Classes

Faced with the defeat of a $47-million school bond measure, the Lancaster School District probably will accelerate its move to year-round class schedules to relieve crowding, possibly converting all 14 campuses by 1991, school officials predicted Wednesday.

Administrators in the 10,700-student district had been counting on the bond money to help build two middle schools and two elementary schools to handle rising enrollments. But without the money, school officials said, expanded year-round classes look like their best alternative.

To pass in Tuesday’s election, Measure A needed 66.6% of the vote but got only 59.8% in semiofficial returns, despite having no organized opposition. The measure would have raised residents’ property taxes to pay for the new schools.

“I really don’t have too warm a feeling now on the future of the district,” said Frank Astourian, president of the district’s board of trustees. “This gives me a sense of too much of the unknown. It’s a tenuous time right now.”

The district still plans to make the first conversion of two schools to year-round classes this fall. The district had been planning to add two of the remaining 12 schools each succeeding year. But now, Astourian said, all 12 may have to go year-round beginning in the fall of 1991.

Year-round schedules can increase the capacity of schools by about 20%. The neighboring Palmdale School District started its first year-round school last fall.

In the meantime, Astourian said, the district also will pursue other sources of revenue, such as persuading developers to accept assessments on their vacant land. Those taxes would be paid later by people who buy homes built on the land.

Such levies are considered easier to impose because they can be accepted by developers who would not have to pay the actual taxes. Another option would be to impose similar levies on current district residents. But that is more unlikely, since it would require a two-thirds vote of approval.

The district’s bond measure would have increased taxes for owners of homes with assessed values of $100,000 by about $50 a year. Owners of homes with assessed values of $150,000 would have had to pay nearly $77 a year extra. The taxes would have been levied over a 30-year period.

“I know people don’t like to pay taxes. But I don’t think they like gangs, overcrowding and having their kids bused long distances,” Astourian said. “Getting new schools is the only way to avoid those things.”

District officials have scheduled a meeting for Monday to discuss their options.

The state has placed an $800-million school bond measure on the June ballot that requires approval by only a majority vote. But because there are about $7 billion in school requests pending for that money, Lancaster officials said they do not expect to get much from it even if the measure does pass.