Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Antelope Valley to Get 2nd Continuation School : Education: Current campus in Lancaster lacks space. Officials say new site will help reverse slight increase in dropout rate.

A second continuation school is being established in the Antelope Valley in hopes of keeping more high school students from dropping out of school.

The board of the Antelope Valley Union High School District on Wednesday unanimously approved the establishment in the fall of South Valley Continuation School, which will cost $220,000 to staff and furnish in the first year.

“It’s been a long time coming,” said board member Bill Olenick.

As recently as the 1970s the high school district had two continuation schools, one in Lancaster and another in Palmdale. But when Desert Winds High School opened in 1975, it became the district’s lone school for problem students.

Designed for 225 students, that Lancaster school now serves as many as 700 students between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. weekdays.

“It is very common for at-risk students to be turned down in their request to attend Desert Winds because of a lack of available space,” Ray Monti, assistant superintendent of educational services, said in a report.

Board president Billy Pricer said he believes that the opening of South Valley will have a substantial impact on reducing the district’s dropout rate.

“I predict our dropout rate will go down considerably,” he said. “I predict we’ll graduate another 100 kids.”

A report released by the state Department of Education Wednesday showed that 11.9% of the district’s Class of 1993 dropped out since they entered the 10th grade. The number is up slightly from the 11.1% in 1992.

Officials blamed the increase on the district’s financial crisis, saying tight budgets prevented the establishment of any additional outreach programs to keep students in school.

Nonetheless, the district’s dropout rate has significantly improved since the state began tracking the figures in 1986. At that time, 68.4% of the students who had been enrolled in the district since 10th grade were not expected to graduate.

Among the district’s Class of 1988, 34.8% dropped out between the 10th grade and graduation day, according to the Department of Education. That number fell to 15.9% in 1992.

Since 1986, the high school district has seen its dropout rate plummet 82.6%, according to state figures.

South Valley Continuation School will help reduce the dropout rate even more, Pricer said.

“I think it’s been a proven fact for years that if you have a more structured program for the kids that are problems or have problems learning, its a little easier for them to progress,” Pricer said.

Because of the space problem at Desert Winds, Pricer said many problem students are assigned to independent study, an approach that is not really effective at keeping at-risk youth in school.

Even some students assigned to Desert Winds never make it because they live so far away, he said. The district does not provide bus service to the school so it’s “easy for kids and parents to use that as an excuse for the kids not to go,” Pricer said.

South Valley will be located at 40th Street East and Avenue P-8 in space leased from the Los Angeles Department of Airports. The site was previously used by the Palmdale School District for a temporary school, so it will require only minimal changes to ready it for opening in the fall, said Supt. Robert Girolamo.

The district expects the school to open with an enrollment of 120 to 150 students and reach a maximum of 200 during the 1994-95 school year.