Classes for Teen Mothers Scrapped : Schools: The cash-strapped Antelope Valley district abandons the program when fund-raising efforts fail.

A plan to keep Antelope Valley teen-age mothers in school by providing on-campus child care and special classes was canceled Wednesday because the school district is nearly bankrupt and a fund-raising drive was unsuccessful.

The board of trustees of the Antelope Valley Union High School District voted 4 to 0 to abandon plans for the program. The financially troubled district said it could not afford to fund its share, and private fund raising netted only $6,560 of the needed $50,000.

“In November, when I suggested you not drop things, I had lots of high hopes,” teacher Mary Cronkhite told board members. “We had lots of ‘almosts.’ ” Of the money contributed, $5,000 came from one source--a retired teacher, she said.

The 12,835-student district wanted to begin the program at two of its six campuses during the fall semester last year, then scaled back the plan to one site this semester.

Wednesday’s decision killed any prospects for this school year and perhaps the next.

Because the district was approved to receive a federal grant to pay for part of the program this school year but was unable to get the program started, school district officials said the district may be ineligible for the same funds to try again during the next school year.

The goal of the program was to keep young mothers in school and to pull in dropouts by offering daily on-campus child care and child-care classes. Young mothers would have attended classes and shared child-care chores, overseen by staff members.

Backers of the program said it was needed because increasing numbers of students drop out of high school to take care of their children. The district does not keep statistics on the number of pregnant students or student mothers.

Normally, the district would have dipped into its own funds to pay for expenses not covered by the federal grant, which could have been as much as $135,360 for a full year. But that became unlikely after mismanagement by former employees led the district to the brink of bankruptcy last year.

The school board considered canceling plans for the program in November but decided to give backers a chance to raise the estimated $25,000 to $50,000 needed beyond the grant for just the spring semester. But business leaders and others contacted said they had no money to give.

The board’s decision does not affect a separate program begun last fall offering specialized daily classes for pregnant students, as opposed to student mothers. That program is open to students districtwide, but the classes are held at Highland and Littlerock high schools.