William S Hart Union High School District

A San Fernando-based construction firm is protesting the state's rejection of its bid to build a junior high school in Canyon Country. William S. Hart Union High School District trustees Wednesday authorized forwarding of the appeal by Bernards Bros. Inc. to the State Allocation Board. "We feel we should support, as a school district, their right to a second opinion," said Lew White, district facilities director.

Smoking will no longer be permitted at local football matches, baseball games and all other outdoor activities at public high schools and junior highs. Trustees of the William S. Hart Union High School District voted unanimously for the smoking ban Wednesday night, even though it will further inconvenience at least one of them. Trustee John Hassel lamented that the number of places where he can indulge are steadily shrinking.

Five months after being hired as principals with the William S. Hart Union High School District, Paul Priesz and Rochelle Neal can finally tell people the names of their schools. Trustees Wednesday night approved Valencia High School and La Mesa Junior High School as names for the two new campuses scheduled to open next fall. "It feels good" to have a name, Priesz said. "We've been working for a long time."

A 48-year-old school administrator from Poway has been named the new superintendent of the Santa Clarita Valley's largest school district, officials announced Wednesday. Walter L. Swanson will replace Hamilton C. Smyth as head of the William S. Hart Union High School District. The district's eight junior high and high schools draw about 10,500 students from around the Santa Clarita Valley.

Walter Swanson's resignation as superintendent of the William S. Hart Union High School District will probably take effect in early September, giving him enough time to help the district with major upcoming projects, school officials said Thursday. Swanson, 50, surprised colleagues by announcing last week that he was leaving the district to accept a similar position in Missouri.

A new policy in the William S. Hart Union High School District has propped open the classroom door for Bible study groups. Bible study members in May accused school administrators of discriminating against them by blocking their lunchtime access to classrooms at Canyon, Hart and Saugus high schools. District officials acknowledged that the prior policy, which allowed curriculum-oriented groups to meet in classrooms but limited others to outdoor campus use, was inconsistently enforced.

Eight candidates have applied for a vacancy on the high school district board here, including two police officers, a water company president, a computer technician, an attorney, a teacher, a newspaper columnist and a telecommunications manager. Two candidates are former board members for other Santa Clarita Valley school districts. Trustees will interview candidates May 14 for the William S.

High school students bored by their regular classes may soon be allowed to move up to college courses--and in doing so receive both high school and college credit. The William S. Hart Union High School District board Wednesday night directed its staff to develop a policy that would give students dual credit for college course work. "We really needed to do something to enhance and accelerate students' career and academic goals," said Gary Wexler, the district's director of curriculum.

A $52-million bond to ease overcrowding in the William S. Hart Union High School District failed to win a two-thirds majority vote during a special election last month, a spokeswoman from the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorders Office said Friday. After the narrow election loss on June 6, Hart officials demanded a recount but registrar spokeswoman Grace Chavez said the results remained the same. Chavez said the final recount results were 11,359 to 5,705--or 66.57% to 33.43%.

Rising enrollments and shrinking funds will be the focus of five school board elections and a bond issue in the Santa Clarita Valley on Tuesday. Among the solutions being debated by 29 candidates are bond measures, year-round schools, leasing of school property to commercial developers and lobbying lawmakers and corporations for funds. Two seats apiece are up for election Nov.