With the blessing of state officials, voters in the Wiseburn School District are set to decide in March whether they want Wiseburn to run a high school in addition to its four elementary and middle school sites.

And because the election will be limited to district residents in the communities of Wiseburn, Del Aire and west Hawthorne, there's a strong chance most will check "Yes."

But a leader of the movement to create a unified school district said the fight with the local Centinela Valley Union High School District might not be over. Chief secession proponent John Peterson said Friday that he feared Centinela Valley may take legal action to put the kibosh on a Wiseburn High, or at least seek to expand the vote to Lawndale, Lennox and the rest of Hawthorne.

"I'm hopeful that they'll take the high road and realize that their attorneys might mislead them for the billable hours," he said.

Reached by telephone, Centinela Valley board President Maria Calix said there were no current plans to take legal action, but she did not rule out the possibility.

"There's no plan at this time," Calix said. "We need to review what the options are."

For three years, proponents of unification have pushed for the establishment of a safe, high-performing high school under the Wiseburn flag, saying they've lost faith in Centinela Valley schools. At the same time, CVUHSD officials have battled against the campaign, claiming a separate K-12 district would strip the high school district of gifted students, diversity, per-pupil dollars and a sizable chunk of its tax base.

Though Wiseburn is one of four K-8 districts that feed into the 7,500-student Centinela Valley system, it accounts for more than 40 percent of Centinela's assessable property value.

But the state Board of Education voted 10-0 Thursday to grant permission for a secession election limited to the residents of Wiseburn -- just as long as Wiseburn agreed to continue paying its share of a $59 million facilities bond measure that was passed by Centinela Valley in 2000.

Calix expressed disappointment in the board's decision and said her district will continue to publicly campaign against unification, which requires a majority vote in March. And, in a rare display of intradistrict unity, Centinela board members and administrators will enjoy the support of the local teachers union.

Peterson said his side will host town hall meetings to promote the measure.

Wiseburn Superintendent Don Brann on Friday said he was still savoring the victory and was not preparing for a prolonged legal war.

"We'll cross that bridge if we come to it," he said. "We hope that both districts will spend their money on the students and not on attorneys and court costs.

"Their attorneys will probably urge it," he added, "but that's what attorneys do for a living."