School Bond Measure Lacked Votes in Swelling Suburbs : Election: Official blames rejection of Proposition 152 in Lancaster and Palmdale on harsh effects of the recession.

Voters from the fastest-growing suburban areas of Los Angeles County--such as the Antelope and Santa Clarita valleys--were less likely than their urban counterparts to endorse the school bond measure on last week’s ballot, even though those are the very regions that stand to benefit most from the funds.

State Proposition 152, which will raise $1.9 billion for new schools and repairs, was approved on June 2 by a margin of 53% to 47%. In Los Angeles County, support for the measure was even greater, with 58% of voters favoring it.

But a Times analysis of election returns found that support for the measure in the Santa Clarita Valley was narrower, and in Lancaster and Palmdale, voters soundly rejected it. In the Lancaster area, for instance, 60% voted no, while in and around Palmdale, 58% were opposed.

Brent Korff, an official with the state Office of Local Assistance, speculated that the harsh effects of the recession in the more remote areas of the county may have led voters to reject the bond measure, which will cost taxpayers $3.3 billion in principal and interest payments over the next 20 years. Korff’s division makes recommendations to the State Allocation Board, which will distribute the bond proceeds.

“They may just be of the attitude that ‘I know things are rough, but I have it rough too,’ ” he said.

Statewide voter returns showed that smaller rural counties tended to vote down the measure, while larger urban counties were generally the force behind its passage, said Marc Hall, executive secretary for the Coalition for Adequate School Housing, a lobbying group. Hall said, however, that San Bernardino and Riverside counties--both also high-growth areas--bucked that trend by opposing the bond issue.

School officials from the Antelope Valley said they were disappointed by the voter rejection because it seemed to ignore the fact that school crowding is so great in the area. Yet, they also said they were not caught completely by surprise because local school bond measures have failed in the past.

“It just boggles my mind, when our need is so critical, that the people here voted no,” said Richard Aitken, district engineer for the Antelope Valley Union High School District.

Later this month, the State Allocation Board will decide how to disperse the money, Korff said. Funds raised from the measure are expected to be used up quickly because the board already has applications for $6 billion in construction and remodeling projects.

But Korff said that districts furthest along in their building and remodeling plans--such as Antelope Valley Union High School District, Lancaster School District and the Palmdale School District--are among the most likely to have their requests for funding fulfilled.

In Palmdale, school officials have previously submitted to the allocation board $25 million in requests for four new schools, more land and other improvements, said Nancy Smith, assistant superintendent of Palmdale district.

The district’s enrollment, which is expected to double in the next decade, has been growing by up to 14% a year, with attendance now hovering near 15,000 students, Smith said. So great is the need in the district that even though four new schools opened this year, 400 portable classrooms still are being used.

In Lancaster, school district officials are optimistic that they will receive $19 million from the proceeds of Proposition 152. Twice in the past two years, voters in that school district have defeated $47-million local bond measures, said Steve Gocke, interim superintendent of business for the Lancaster district.

The district’s 12,000 students are expected to increase in number to 20,000 within the next decade, Gocke said, which means that even if all the funding requests are filled, it will be insufficient to meet future demands.

“We’ve been in the crisis level for about four years and we’re still there,” he said. “Even if the schools are built, it won’t alleviate the total problem.”

In the Antelope Valley Union High School District, which covers the entire valley, officials are similarly optimistic that they will gain $30 million in funding to build a new high school, Aitken said.

Santa Clarita voters passed Proposition 152 by fewer than 900 votes, or about a 52% approval. Yet, the school crowding there also is greater than in most other regions of the county.

During the past five years, enrollment in the William S. Hart Union High School District in Newhall has been growing an average of 300 students a year, with attendance next year expected to top 11,000, said Bill Madigan, director of business for the district.

Hart officials have received verbal assurances from the state board that their $37 million request to build two new schools--to accommodate 3,000 students--would be met if the measure passed, Madigan said. The school now relies on 85 portable classrooms to house 2,500 students.

Even so, the construction projects now in the pipeline will not be enough to handle the projected growth in the district’s enrollment. “We will essentially just finish building our junior high and high school when we’ll have to start building our next ones,” he said.