A long road and a big price tag

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT-MESA -- It began more than four years ago. Teachers, parents,

principals -- fed up with the conditions of the schools -- began talking

about the major overhaul they wanted to do to campuses throughout the

district.

When talk began, the number on the tip of everyone’s tongue was $15

million. But that didn’t last long. One school board member scoffed at

that figure, predicting it would be closer to $100 million.

Now, after countless hours put in by community members, D-Day is near on

a plan that aims to solve the problem for at least the next three

decades.

Architect Fred Good confirmed School Board President Dana Black’s belief

in February 1999, when he announced the initial estimate of the schools’

infrastructural repairs would be between $75 million to $112 million.

Good found that 1.8 million square feet of the district’s buildings were

in need of repair.

During the months that followed Good’s report, he revisited the schools

with principals, teachers and parents, scrutinizing each campus and

checking every nook and cranny in an effort to determine what needed to

be done.

In June 1999, the long-awaited “facilities master plan” was released. The

total cost to repair and modernize the crumbling schools was put at about

$127 million -- a number that elicited a collective gasp from the

community.

But reports had come back of rotting ceilings, leaky roofs, tangled and

aging wiring and classrooms that were in every imaginable state of

disrepair.

Things were so bad at Ensign Intermediate, that district officials

considered it might be cheaper to simply tear the building down and start

from scratch.

Determined to present an impeccable plan as a means of garnering

community support, the district then assembled a facilities committee

made up of local business and community leaders. Those 30 community

members, along with district staff, retraced the steps of Good and school

staff, scrutinizing each school and classroom, looking under sinks and

behind toilets.

“We talked to principals and facility workers to determine if the

projects in the original plan needed to be done, if there were additional

projects, or if any had been accomplished,” said Mark Schultheis, the

co-chair of the facilities committee who walked all the secondary

schools. “The things we found were things you may miss as a casual

visitor,” he said. “One thing that was clear was inadequate plumbing --

one faucet working out of three. There were similar issues with aging

heating.”

The committee was charged with reviewing and revising the plan, something

they did several times. They set a standard that they felt each school

and classroom should be brought up to.

The group was also asked to explore the possible funding options

available to the district.

Finally, the group presented a lengthy and comprehensive final plan to

the school board in January.

The bottom line had once again shifted and now the total to repair the

schools and bring them all up to the same standard was $163 million.

In its report, the facilities committee recommended a bond of up to $110

million be placed before voters in a special June election.

The district hopes to get the remaining $53 million from the state in the

form of matching funds. Those state dollars would come from a

$9.2-billion school bond that voters approved in the general election in

November 1998, but they won’t be around for long. The money will be

distributed on a first-come first-serve basis.

In fact, much of the funds from that particular pot have already been

doled out, said Mike Fine assistant superintendent in charge of finances.

Although the dollars Newport-Mesa hopes to vie for will come out of the

state school bond program, they may have to wait for voters to pass

another initiative like the $9.2 billion state Proposition 1A.

Along with the endorsement of a general obligation bond, the committee

suggested the sale of two district-owned properties to help pay for

future maintenance upkeep. The committee recommendation selling the

Banning Ranch and Balearic Park sites, with the revenue being invested.

But following an explosion of community outrage over the possible sale of

their neighborhood park, residents surrounding Balearic Park won the

school board’s promise that the site would only be sold with the

condition that it remain a public park.

After a series of five study sessions delving into various key areas,

such as the specifics of an oversight committee, maintenance reserve and

the type of tax to be imposed, the school board voted to put a

$110-million school bond before voters for the first time in the

district’s 35-year history.

In light of the district’s marred financial history -- including

borrowing $47 million to invest in the Orange County pool just before the

bankruptcy and a multimillion-dollar embezzlement -- the board felt it

needed to include safeguards in the proposed bond to gain community

support.

The measure created will hold the district to several key commitments:

* All proceeds from the bond must be used for the specific purposes

outlined in the district’s facilities master plan.

* A citizens’ oversight committee was to be created to oversee spending

of the funds.

* If the bond passes, the district must establish a reserve fund within

five to seven years, equaling 4% of the district’s annual budget, for the

upkeep of schools once they are repaired.

The type of bond that has been chosen by the board would be paid off in

25 years with level payments. The average payment would be $22.35 for a

home that has an assessed value of $100,000.

The school board has since developed a two-tiered oversight committee as

promised.

There will be a 29-member district oversight committee and committees of

seven to 11 members at each school site.

It will be the responsibility of these groups of citizens to ensure the

funds from the proposed school bonds are spent in a timely fashion and

according to the facilities master plan released in January.

For the main committee, the trustees have developed a specific list of

where those 29 representatives should come from. All positions will be

appointed by application process and each member shall serve no more than

two three-year terms.

The smaller committees will be active only on their campuses and may not

be made up of a majority of district employees.

Former and current school board members and their spouses may not serve

on the committees.

Having done all they can to include the community and make Measure A

something residents would feel comfortable with, the school board and

district is now left to await the whim of voters on June 6.

As to what they will do if the bond does not pass, it is something most

are not yet willing to consider.

“That’s called negative thinking -- we don’t even want to go there,” said

school board member Wendy Leece. “We want it to pass the first time, but

if it doesn’t, then we’ll have to do it again. We’ll have to follow

Irvine’s example of perseverance.”