The frenzy that compels officials of the Los Angeles Unified School District to build schools -- as many and wherever possible -- suggests that there isn't a hint of method in the LAUSD's madness.

Thus district officials' latest plans to turn two mothballed San Fernando Valley campuses into new high schools.

The first campus, the former Hughes Middle School at 5607 Capistrano Ave., would become a 1,600-student international business and trade magnet. The second, the former Oso Elementary School at 5724 Oso Ave., would be converted into a 400-student art and design academy.

All of which sounds very nice, until one stops to ponder the practical implications. Apparently no one in the district's mammoth facilities division has thought to do that yet.

The problem with the sites is that both are located on narrow streets in densely populated neighborhoods. Neighbors -- only being brought into the process late in the day -- are rightly fearful about the prospect of hundreds of teenagers in cars zooming down their streets. They also worry that the campuses lack sufficient parking.

No problem, district officials say. These are magnet schools, not traditional neighborhood campuses. As such, their students will be bused in from all over Los Angeles, and, to keep the number of cars down, officials have decided to cut down on the number of local kids who can attend.

"Because we've reduced the number of kids who will be driving," District A Superintendent Deborah Leidner says of the Hughes site, "we will have plenty of parking to accommodate them."

Great, but isn't the point of the district's school-construction spree to end the reliance on busing?

That being the case, wouldn't it make more sense to open schools where they're needed, as opposed to where facilities already happen to be?

It's as though district officials are so fixated on building schools that they've lost all sight of why they set out to build them in the first place.

That much is clear from district officials' obsession with building magnet schools, rather than simpler and less expensive, but no less important, traditional schools that focus on the three R's.

An international business and trade magnet?

How about teaching kids how to read and write before delving into the finer points of high finance?

Ditto for the art and design academy. These are worthy fields of study, but should they really be the focus of a high school education?

After all, it's not as though the LAUSD has such a fine mastery of the basics that it's in a strong position to venture outward. Since the district first started administering the state's basic high school exit exam in 2001, only 49 percent of LAUSD students have passed the English component, and just 30 percent have passed the math portion.

Then there's the 22 percent of LAUSD students who drop out before graduation.

Perhaps it's time for the district to curb its ambitions.

Perhaps, instead of building as many schools as it can, the LAUSD should build as many well-planned schools as it needs where it needs them.

And rather than collecting fancy specialty schools, maybe its efforts would be better spent improving basic education for everyone.

The LAUSD doesn't just need more schools; it needs better ones.

There's a crush of students going on to high schools in the next few years, and the failure of LAUSD officials to plan ahead for them is appalling. But that doesn't justify trampling on the interests of the community or throwing away tens of millions of dollars needlessly.