Panel OKs Shifting Funds to School Repairs : Education: $30 million earmarked for special career high schools will now be used to fix quake damage.

A state panel Wednesday approved shifting $30 million earmarked for a new Los Angeles high school program to pay for earthquake repairs, delaying creation of special academies for at least a year.

Approval to use the state funds came the same day as release of a school district report that found major communications problems at city schools after the Jan. 17 earthquake.

The State Allocation Board in a meeting Wednesday granted a Los Angeles Unified School District request to use the $30 million for earthquake repairs.

State Finance Department officials had recommended that the state bond money be used for earthquake claims rather than new programs, said Wales Woodard, deputy director of the Office of Local Assistance.

The school district had planned to set up five new schools for students interested in careers in medicine, science, business and entertainment. The so-called Career Development Partnership Academy Project--which was to have campuses in Van Nuys, Hollywood, Downtown, Compton and Southeast Los Angeles--was designed as a partnership between the city, state and private developers.

Money for the new schools could be reimbursed with the passage of a school construction bond on the November ballot, officials said.

Nonetheless, district officials said earthquake repairs are more important.

They said release of the state money also would spur the federal government into funding its share of the repairs, expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars. The state must pay a portion of the earthquake repair bill that is being handed over to the federal government.

The 15-page earthquake response report, prepared at the request of Board of Education President Mark Slavkin in February, contained few surprises and underscored the need for updated equipment and an improved emergency plan.

The report’s recommendations include:

* Creation of an emergency operations center--equipped with a gasoline-powered generator--that has ample space for employees, telephone lines and computer equipment.

* Purchase of five radio frequencies to ensure that workers can contact district sites when telephones are not working.

* Improvement of emergency training, including annual refresher courses, for administrators and others.

* Requiring that furniture, such as bookcases, be bolted to the walls to minimize injuries and damage.

Helen Fallon, who chairs the 10th District Parent Teacher Student Assn.’s earthquake preparedness committee, blasted the report.

“It doesn’t answer the question: If you had an earthquake during school, how are you going to ensure the students’ safety?” she asked. “For having waited this long, I was rather disappointed.”