L.A. Unified Will Return $5.3 Million to State : Education: The district says it will give back funds for renovations at two Westside high schools because it has more pressing priorities.

Despite its financial woes, the Los Angeles Unified School District is planning to give back to the state more than $5.3 million allocated for long-planned renovations of University and Venice high schools because the projects are no longer considered high on the list of district priorities.

The two Westside high schools are among 52 schools around the district that face the loss of state funds specifically appropriated for them, amounting to a loss this year of $13.6 million, according to a district report. Last year, nearly $18 million was returned to the state under similar circumstances.

Because the money is earmarked for specific schools, it cannot be used for building projects rated more pressing by the board, such as the construction of new schools. “We have a year to use it or lose it,” said Westside board member Mark Slavkin.

Slavkin said in an interview that he considers the current board policy under which the money would be lost outrageous, particularly because of the district’s budget plight and the years of work that have gone into getting state funding.

“It’s just, in my view, a glaring example of people not having their heads on straight,” Slavkin said, adding that it his intention to change the policy, if he can get the board to go along.

He noted that most of the money for the two high school projects was coming from a bond issue, which was passed by voters this spring and received strong support on the Westside. And he predicted a credibility gap when voters learn that the district could not find a way to use the money and meet its other mandates. The district says that it does not have the staff or the money to manage the construction projects in addition to higher priority projects.

Some other board members defend the priority policy as needed to ensure that new construction moves along expediently to alleviate overcrowding. At a building committee hearing Thursday, board President Jackie Goldberg said she would oppose any modernization projects that would impede new construction. “It’s not fine with me if we are going to modernize and not build new seats.”

At University High School, a $1.1-million planned renovation project concentrates on the third-floor library and antiquated science labs. Chemistry teacher Kevin Paulsen said he refers to his room as the Thomas Edison Memorial Lab, not to pay homage to the scientist, but as a comment on the age of its equipment, which dates from the 1920s.

Paulsen said 10 physical science classes were taught last year in rooms that, because they are not outfitted with gas, water and electricity, used a dangerous Rube Goldberg system of running pipes to available energy soures.

The plumbing in a lab that is equipped with water backs up whenever too many toilets are flushed at the same time on the floor below, Paulsen said.

He joined the school’s assistant principal, librarian and parent leaders at the committee meeting to stress the need for the construction. Venice High School Principal Andrea Natger and a faculty member made their own plea to board members for a planned $4.2-million modernization at their school.

Natger said later that the word modernization is a misnomer, because it made the repairs sound decorative when they are essential to keep the buildings from crumbling.

With the school nearing the top of the priority list, requests for maintenance over the last few years were denied because major renovation was expected. That left the school without heat for the last two winters, Natger said. The floors are so old they cannot be sanded any more.

Board member Rita Walters said that there are similar situations all over the district but that the district does not have the funds to manage the projects.

Doug Brown, the district director of Building Services, explained in an interview that each of his teams has a workload of 15 projects, 10 in the design phase and five under construction.

To increase the workload means slowing down progress on projects under construction, Brown said, and perhaps incurring financial penalties if the projects fail to stay on schedule. Brown also said that slower completion of projects would inconvenience teachers, students and staff who were dealing with ongoing construction.

But Slavkin said he refused to believe that both needs could not be accommodated. Why, he asked, does a project to build an elementary school in Hollywood, where a site has not yet been selected, conflict with managing the renovation of already funded projects this year?

Outside the meeting, Slavkin told representatives from Venice and University high schools that the “fight is over Los Angeles Unified School District bureaucrats” and their fallacious thinking that one school will not be built five years from now because the school system is working on University High School today.

The board will continue its debate of the priority policy next Thursday.