NORTH COUNTY -- Overcrowded, run-down schools may have to wait longer for renovation money if the California Legislature goes through with talk of delaying a March school bond vote to make room for a bigger, non-school bond proposal from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Lawmakers in Sacramento are quietly discussing a tentative plan to kick a $12.3 billion school construction measure off the March ballot so that voters this spring will only have to decide on one state bond measure -- a $15 billion loan that Schwarzenegger has proposed to bail the state out of its budget mess.

The school bond initiative, which would ask voters to approve billions in school construction loans, would be delayed until November 2004 if lawmakers vote to take it off the spring ballot.

The idea behind the possible delay is simple: Voters may be more likely to approve one massive loan for the state than two.

"Nearly $30 billion in loans is a lot of money, and it could scare people away from one or both of the bonds," said Teri Burns, deputy superintendent for legislative affairs at the California Department of Education. "People are saying maybe the two bonds would sink each other on the ballot."

State school officials oppose the plan, saying too many students "are working in an environment of crumbling schools and crowded conditions," according to a written statement from State Superintendent Jack O'Connell on Monday.

"The need for this funding is immediate and critical," O'Connell said of the school bond proposal, known as Proposition 55. "How can we ever achieve our goal of providing our children a world-class education and expect them to be inspired about learning under these conditions?"

North County school districts, which are counting on at least $400 million in state construction money during the next few years, said they are bursting at the seams and need construction money to get kids out of trailer classrooms and onto less crowded campuses.

Vista's two high schools, for example, each have more than 3,200 students. Each was built for 1,800, said Mike Vail, assistant superintendent for the Vista Unified School District. The district plans to use state bond money to build two other schools that would take up to 2,000 students out of the crowded high schools.

"Without the state money, we'd have to put building those schools on hold, which wouldn't do anything for our students," said Vail, who also is a member of the San Diego Regional Advisory Committee on Prop. 55.

Not everyone opposes pushing back the school bond vote. At least one local lawmaker said the state needs to cover its deficit before taking out more loans to pay for schools, and he said that the delay might give the school bond a better chance of passing.

"There is some concern that if you put the education bond on the same ballot as the other bond, it might fail," said Assemblyman Mark Wyland, R-Escondido. "There are real facility needs, yes, but I would push it back because we have to get the state's financial house in order first."

Assemblywoman Patricia Bates, R-Oceanside, was unavailable for comment.

A spokesman for Schwarzenegger said the governor has not taken a position on the possible delay.

At least 17 of North County's 20 school districts have applied for state funding to help build or renovate campuses. Many of the districts have passed local bonds -- property taxes for new public schools -- and are counting on the state to match local taxpayers' contributions.

Legislators voted last year to put two bond measures before state voters: a $13 billion bond in November 2002 and the $12.3 billion bond in March 2004. Voters approved the 2002 bond with 59 percent of the vote. Many schools are in line for money for new schools from last year's bond and were expecting money from the 2004 bond to cover renovations for older schools.

Delaying next year's bond vote until November would delay some school repairs at least a year, said San Dieguito Union High School District assistant superintendent Eric Hall. Hall is also a member of the California Coalition for Adequate School Housing, an association that promotes school construction.

Many renovations must be done in the summer when students are not on campus, meaning that repairs probably would not begin on many schools until summer of 2005 if the bond is delayed until November of 2004.

"We're talking about classrooms with leaky roofs and other problems that directly affect the learning environment of students," Hall said. "The more you delay, the more damage you do, both to the buildings and to the students."

If the March bond is delayed until November and then fails to get voter approval, it could not be placed before voters again until 2006.

Oceanside Unified School District, which passed a $125 million local school bond in 2000, plans to use about $120 million in state matching money to renovate its 25 schools. But campuses near the bottom of the renovation list, including an overcrowded middle school, may have to wait longer for renovations if the state bond measure is delayed, said Superintendent Ken Noonan.

"If the bond is not passed or it takes much longer to get passed, we might use up much of the local money and have to stop short as we wait for the state to reimburse us," Noonan said. "It sounds like a smart move on the part of the governor, but I'd rather have it voted on and done with in the spring."

Contact staff writer Erin Walsh at (760) 739-6644 or ewalsh@nctimes.com.