EARTHQUAKE: THE LONG ROAD BACK : Damaged Schools to Decide How to Make Up Lost Time : Education: Each campus will be asked to lengthen the day, eliminate its spring break or extend the year.

Students at 12 San Fernando Valley schools will have to attend classes more hours each day, or more days this spring or summer, to make up for time lost while their campuses were closed by the Jan. 17 earthquake, administrators said Wednesday.

Administrators, parents and teachers at each school--including adult schools--will be allowed to choose how they want to make up the time. The choices include lengthening the school day; eliminating the spring break, set for March 28 to April 1, or extending the school year beyond June 17.

Schools received a memo from Supt. Sid Thompson on Wednesday explaining that the decisions must still be ratified by the Board of Education. But Thompson has already reached an agreement with the teachers union on the plan, and officials said they expect it to be approved by the board.

The 12 campuses were the only ones in the district that did not reopen by Feb. 1--the last day of the fall semester. The schools are opening at various times, according to their degree of damage.

The schools include Winnetka Avenue elementary in Canoga Park, San Fernando Middle School and the West Valley Occupational Center in Woodland Hills, which reopened Feb. 3, and Northridge Middle School and Aliso Continuation School in Reseda, which reopened Feb. 7.

The following schools have not yet reopened due to damage: Van Gogh Street elementary in Granada Hills, El Camino Real and Kennedy high schools in Woodland Hills and Granada Hills, respectively; Stoney Point and Addams continuation schools in Chatsworth and Granada Hills, respectively, and the adult schools at El Camino and Kennedy.

Both district and teachers union officials said they were pleased that the decision on how to make up the time will be left to the individual campuses.

“I think it’s very fair--it allows for local school input,” said Associate Supt. Dan Isaacs, who runs the district’s school operations division. “They can make the decisions themselves.”

Cathy Carey, spokeswoman for United Teachers-Los Angeles, said most groups on the campuses will be included in the decision.

“It’s a local school decision and that means teachers, parents and administrators,” she said.

The school district closed all schools for five days after the quake. While most campuses resumed classes Jan. 25, some 77 schools--mainly in the Valley--remained shut.

The hardest-hit campuses--Van Gogh, El Camino and Kennedy--will probably resume classes in the next few weeks.

Students from Van Gogh will attend school at Frost Middle School in Granada Hills starting next week, and portable classrooms are being installed at El Camino and Kennedy.