District ready for June 5 school bond

Angelique Flores

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- City school district officials are hopeful that

Measure S, a $25-million bond measure that they say will help repair and

modernize buildings, will be approved by voters in the June 5 special

election.

“By and large, we’re seeing a lot of support from the community,” said

Bill Wallace, Measure S campaign coordinator.

Volunteers have sent out mailers to registered voters, made phone

calls and walked door-to-door to inform the public about the bond, said

Jerry Buchanan, assistant superintendent of administrative services.

The district has already spent more than two years studying and

preparing for the measure, which was unanimously approved by the board.

“This is something that is definitely needed for our school district,”

said Brian Rechsteiner, board president. “People who have homes between

30 and 60 years old have to make repairs. It’s the same with us.”

The average age of the schools is about 30 years old, with some

buildings having been in use for 40 years. The main building at Dwyer

Middle School has been in use for 67 years.

“They badly need some help,” Wallace said. “Systems date from 30 years

ago. We’ve reached the point where we have to make these renovations and

refurbishments.”

The district needs about $41.6 million in repairs and upgrades,

including the replacement of broken and deteriorating water and sewer

systems, old roofs, classroom fire and smoke alarm systems, electrical

systems and air-conditioning systems. The schools also need to be

modernized to meet current technology standards.

The bond would help pay for such work, costing taxpayers $16 per

$100,000 of assessed value of a home, each year for 30 years.

The district is eligible for $20.8 million in state funds, but it must

match it with $4.1 million of its own first. That 20% match and the

remainder not paid for by state funds would be covered by the $25-million

bond. The district is already in line to receive bond money, once it’s

passed by the state.

Two surveys over the past year showed strong support for a bond

measure by voters. Further endorsement has been secured by City Council

members, city officials and prominent business owners.

“We feel strongly that we need to improve ability of teachers to teach

the children,” Wallace said. “We do not want teachers to have to worry

about things like ventilation.”

While the district hasn’t had much dissent, the Huntington Beach

Republican Assembly and Huntington Beach Union High School District

trustee Matthew Harper oppose the measure.

“It seems sneaky,” Harper said.

Harper said the district is running a low-profile campaign and isn’t

getting enough information out to the voters. He called the bond proposal

“incomplete” because it doesn’t list a detailed spending plan on the

ballot, doesn’t include an independent oversight committee and doesn’t

have a designated repair and replacement reserve.

Huntington Beach High School District’s own $123-million school bond

failed in 1999.

“We’re not running a stealth campaign,” Buchanan said.

While the district doesn’t have the spending proposal as Harper

alleged, Buchanan said the accountability and a reserve fund is in place.

The district will pursue a two-thirds voter requirement. If the

district opted for a 55% voter requirement, as the recent Proposition 39

would allow, the district would have to wait until the next regularly

scheduled election in March or November 2002 to put the bond on the

ballot.

District officials didn’t want to wait. Besides the additional costs

of repeating work already done and the increased cost of project plans,

getting the funds would be further delayed.

“I feel very confident that people recognize the value of good

schools,” Buchanan said. “ And we feel strongly that we could pass with

[two thirds].”

If the bond fails, the district would qualify for $16 million of

hardship money from the state. However, the state’s hardship coffers are

empty.

“The community is really behind this. [The board] is 100% behind this.

We want to see this thing pass,” Rechsteiner said.

Question

FIX THE SCHOOLS?

Tell us why you think the city school district’s attempts to pass a

$25-million bond to help repair the ailing schools is a good or bad idea?

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