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School bond campaign starts while bond election waits
by John Tawa
In early February, 10,000 Manhattan Beach households received a newsletter published by the Mira Costa Facilities Committee. The newsletter updated residents about the improvements and modernization completed to date at Mira Costa High School with the proceeds of Measure A, the $47.3 million bond issue approved in 1995. It described what additional work would be accomplished this summer at the high school with Measure A funds.
The newsletter also detailed the seven-year, $30 million Master Plan to renovate the 50-year-old campus, which would be funded by a new bond and perhaps state matching funds, and included a questionnaire asking residents to assess, among other things, the reasonableness of the projects proposed.
According to the newsletter, the Master Plan "recommends replacing a number of aging, undersized academic buildings and deteriorating portable buildings on campus." New buildings would ease the burden of mandatory class-size reduction for ninth graders and would expand the arts, communication and technology curricula to satisfy a student demand the present campus cannot meet.
The newsletter wasn't sent to everyone, however. Only households in the database used in the 1995 bond election, augmented by new parents to the district and Mira Costa neighbors, received a copy. School Board Trustee and Facilities Committee member Mary Rogers cited limited resources as the reason it wasn't sent to all residents.
In the face of uncertainties about when or even if the Manhattan Beach School Board will call an election for the new bond, it seems that the campaign for the bond has already begun.
Polling of residents to assess their perception of the high school's needs is ongoing, said Board President Lynette Campbell. And the school district already is evaluating the completed questionnaires, added School Superintendent Jerry Davis.
Whether and when to seek a new bond are dependent upon numerous factors.
The first is the city's impending special election on the Metlox public use initiative. The city council is expected to discuss when to hold an election at its March 7 meeting, City Manager Geoff Dolan said. The election would be scheduled for 88 to 103 days thereafter.
Davis said that the school district does not want to hold its bond election around the same time as the Metlox initiative to avoid any voter confusion.
"I'm still planning to bring a resolution to the board in March," Davis said. "When they order that election will be up to them."
"We would like to see it happen before school is out," Davis added. "We are exploring dates in June. But at the same time, we have to be very sensitive to the special election issue that the city is going through. I'm kind of waiting to hear what that date is going to be. Once I know that, we'll take that election into consideration."
The second issue is the outcome of Proposition 26, the "Let's Fix our Schools Initiative" on the statewide ballot March 7. Proposition 26 would lower the threshold from two-thirds to 50 percent for passage of local school bonds.
"What happens to Prop 26 in March will also have a lot of weight in determining what we do," Campbell said. "We don't have to be as concerned with what the city is doing if we have to go with a simple majority. If we go with two-thirds, it's a whole different issue."
"We're planning for two-thirds," added Davis. "The state initiative is starting to fall behind."
There also is a chance that the Board of Trustees may defer holding a bond election this year. New board member Dr. Teri Greene refused to endorse Prop 26 when it came before the board for consideration. She reasoned that a two-thirds vote would ensure that the community truly was making a community decision.
Greene said last week that her vote against Prop 26 did not necessarily signal her intention to oppose any bond, but a bond push without a unanimous board would be cause for concern.
"My goal would be to continue educating [Dr. Greene] on our needs and why it is a good investment and why it is needed and let the chips fall where they may," Davis said. "Saying that, if I have one-fifth of the board not on board with me, then I think that is a concern that the trustees need to look at."
"[Consultant Larry] Tramutola said you need to have a 5-0," Campbell added. "I don't know that that's necessarily true. I think if it carries 4-1, then that's the one the board supports and I still think we're okay. I don't believe it always has to be unanimous as long as everyone respects the majority vote and moves on from there."
Davis said if the district decided against a new bond or it didn't pass, it would be close to impossible for the school district to accumulate reserves to renovate the high school.
"Most of the new money coming into the district, other than earmarked money, is pass-through money going to salaries," he explained.
Davis made clear that even without new bond monies, the base modernization goals for Mira Costa would be accomplished with Measure A funds.
"Our promise to the community was to do the underground utilities, the earthquake stuff and all the safety issues," Davis said. "We are fulfilling that promise. Those next steps just wouldn't get done until the buildings fall down or until we go back out for a new bond."
Meanwhile, the infrastructure phase of Mira Costa modernization gets underway June 19, the Monday after the school year concludes. This summer's work, which will close the campus, will include new water, gas and sewer mains, electrical wiring, storm drains and new fire service lines with additional fire hydrants.
The modernization work at Mira Costa will proceed in phases over the next two and a half years. During each phase, buildings will get new paint inside and out, roof replacement as needed, new flooring and carpet, asbestos abatement as needed, wall renovation and other work designed to comply with safety and Americans with Disabilities Acts standards, among other things. Infrastructure to the buildings, electrical, mechanical, fire life safety, plumbing, also will be upgraded completely.
Deputy Superintendent Scott Smith said that the planned modernization would be accomplished with Measure A funds, augmented by $6-7 million in state matching funds.
At its Feb. 9 meeting, the School Board listened as architect Scott Gaudineer of Flewelling & Moody described the timing of the planned improvements. Some board members wanted assurance that the work planned would be necessary regardless of whether a new renovation bond was passed.
"We have to consider the possibility of new construction as part of the process," Gaudineer conceded, "but we realize everything has to function independently."
"What we want to do within the infrastructure is plan for enlarging the current capacities regardless of any pending bond," he continued. "We'll provide spurs and trunks out for connections for future buildings. That's just good planning." ER