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Mira Costa bond vote set for Nov. 7
by John Tawa
There will be a school bond election Nov. 7 in Manhattan Beach.
Last Wednesday, the Manhattan Beach School Board approved a resolution to submit a $26 million bond to the voters. The bond would complete the repair and renovation of Mira Costa High School.
The vote was 4-0. Dr. Teri Greene, who previously had expressed reservations about the need for a bond, was out of town and did not participate in the discussion. She was unavailable for comment before press time.
If passed, the bond would cost $15.86 per $100,000 of a property’s assessed valuation each year for 30 years.
In 1995, Manhattan Beach voters passed Measure A, a $47.5 million bond measure aimed at modernizing the city’s schools. Bond dollars built the $21 million Manhattan Beach Middle School, the crown jewel in Manhattan Beach’s prestigious school system.
Bond dollars also have rehabilitated campuses at Robinson, Meadows and Pennekamp Elementary Schools, with Grand View and Pacific still to be completed with remaining Measure A funds.
Measure A dollars are also currently at work at Mira Costa in a massive modernization program. In mid-June, the campus was closed for the summer for an intensive 60-day, $4.5 million infrastructure improvement project that 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 with Measure A funds, regardless of whether a new bond is passed. During each phase, the 50-year-old buildings will get new paint inside and out, infrastructure upgrades, 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. Measure A funds also renovated the auditorium and built science labs. And the swimming pool was replaced using related Certificate of Participation dollars.
But Measure A dollars are insufficient to bring the high school to the level of the Middle School. Many of the buildings are past their effective uses and the campus is sorely lacking in technology and performance space. State-mandated class size reduction in ninth grade English and math classes also puts the squeeze on available classrooms.
The new bond would fund the construction of two new two-story classroom buildings, a 14,000 square foot library with media center, an administration building and a field house, in phases from 2001 through January 2004. Hardscaping of the campus to make it more pedestrian friendly, improve gathering spaces and re-orient the school towards Artesia Boulevard also were part of the Master Plan of improvements.
"This is much needed and nicely done," commented School Board Trustee Peter Alfvin, "but by no means a lavish high school."
"We’re not gilding the lily," agreed project architect Scott Gaudineer, who said that the improvements were the subject of frank discussion by a Mira Costa Facilities Committee to ensure that only necessary improvements were part of the school’s Master Plan.
Construction of a new $6 million gymnasium, originally part of the Master Plan, has been dropped for the time being and is not part of the bond.
"One thing we’ve learned is to listen to the community," said superintendent Jerry Davis. "Folks were not interested in supporting another school bond that dealt with a gym."
"This will take us to the next 10 years and hopefully the next 50 years," said Mira Costa principal Lynn McCormack. ER