The Lompoc Unified School District (LUSD) is asking voters to approve a bond measure four years after they twice rejected similar efforts. This bond would be used to fund facility improvements.
Recent events over at the LUSD should cause the board of trustees to withdraw a school bond from consideration on this ballot. Why? Well, both the superintendent and his second in command resigned, and one or both hatched this plan. This can wait until a new management team is in place and has had time to evaluate current conditions and come up with an improved plan.
There are several reasons to reconsider this measure—and, if it shows up on your ballot, to oppose it.
This is from a January 2022 report by the California state auditor: “To help ensure that all students have adequately safe facilities in which to learn, the state provides funding to school districts for facility construction, modernization, and alteration. The Leroy F. Greene School Facilities Act (SFA) of 1998 (Greene Act) created the funding mechanism for the School Facilities Program.”
School districts are required to “make all necessary repairs to ensure that school facilities are in good repair, working order, and condition. Good repair means that a facility is maintained in a manner that assures it is clean, safe, and functional.”
So, why haven’t the schools been maintained as required by the School Facilities Act?
The LUSD received $37.2 million in COVID-19 relief grants; what did they do with that resource? There was much discussion about improving heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic; were these systems ever upgraded?
Many could argue that these upgrades were needed long before the outbreak to allow fresh, clean, and warm/cold air to circulate in school facilities. Over time the ductwork accumulates ambient contamination, and, in many cases, the moist air mixing with solid dust particles can create mold—so, it only makes sense to periodically test residue samples to assure the air isn’t making students or teachers sick.
Let’s stipulate that the school facilities have long needed some serious repairs and upgrades, most likely the result of mismanagement by a series of district superintendents for decades. The consultant advising the LUSD said, “Voters are not going to give you monies if they don’t believe in what you’re doing. I do not think that is going to be an issue in the district, but it’s clearly a question that we want to ask.”
So, what are they proposing? Property owners will be asked to provide an “average tax rate of 0.06 per $100 valuation ($60 per $100,000 evaluation)” for 38 years. That means if your home is valued (for tax purposes) at $500,000, you’ll be paying $300 per year. If you own commercial property, what you pay every year will be considerably higher.
Projects will be completed “as needed” and subject to board of trustees established priorities. So they are telling us that they have no idea which school facilities should be prioritized for renovation/replacement. Clearly, they either don’t know the scope of the problem or aren’t willing to share it with voters.
I recently spoke with someone who visited one of the schools to participate in a reading program; she told me that the teacher warned her not to step in one area of the floor because she could fall through! Obviously, this building should be highest on the priority list—if there was one.
So, what’s on the projects list? One item is to “acquire computers, laptops, tablets, mobile devices, televisions, etc.” The list also includes replacing “temporary classrooms,” installed decades ago, with permanent buildings, but I seriously doubt that this bond amount will provide even a fraction of what’s needed. And, what’s easier to procure, a new building or shiny new electronic gadgets and a network capable of supporting them?
I voted “no” twice on this type of bond in past elections. Why? Because the school district placed a laundry list of projects just like this one in front of us without establishing any priorities for completing the work—“just trust us; we know what to do” seemed to be their strategy. Included on the list then and now was an overhaul of “administrative offices,” which in my opinion should only be accomplished if there are any funds left after repairing and modernizing classrooms.
The only way you’re going to get a “yes” vote from this homeowner is if you list specific projects, publish a list of the most severely deteriorated schools, and establish firm priorities in the bond issue language that puts classroom renovation/repair ahead of buying new electronics or board room and/or admin office upgrades.
Ron Fink writes to the Sun from Lompoc. Send a letter for publication to letters@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Aug 25 – Sep 1, 2022.