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by Dan Bialek
School officials and supporters are intensifying efforts to convince residents to vote for next month's school bond.
Manhattan Beach residents will vote on the bond proposal, known as Measure M, on Nov. 7. If passed, it will provide just over $26 million to renovate and add onto Mira Costa High School's 50-year-old campus.
The campus already underwent a bit of a facelift this past summer. Using money from the Measure A bond approved by voters in 1995, the school made improvements required for compliance with the standards set by the "Safe and Sound Schools!" initiative. The improvements included new roofs and gutters, safety glass, and the replacement of deteriorating water lines and lead pipefittings. High-speed Internet lines and increased electric capacity also were added.
"We used the money from Measure A wisely," said Jerry Davis, superintendent of the Manhattan Beach Unified School District.
"We made the necessary improvements needed to keep the school functioning, but we also acted with enough foresight to lay the mains and hubs in hopes that we would be able to carry out the master plan phases crucial to Mira Costa's substantial long-term needs," he said.
"The water and electric situation was ridiculous. The water pressure was low and erratic from building to building, and the electrical would blow out at least once a week," Davis said.
The school also used some of the Measure A money to make improvements to the learning environment.
Two new science labs, a marine science academy lab, and a video broadcast studio were added. However, each of the science labs took up twice the space used by a regular-sized classroom. School planners said that this configuration allows science students more learning time because they spend less time moving from room to room.
The Mira Costa maintenance and operations staff suffered a loss of space from the addition of the video studio, as the classroom and staging area took over space previously used for equipment and furniture storage.
"Having students trod back and forth through the M and O area is less than ideal, and creates a safety concern for us. But we've had to make to with what we have here on campus," said Mira Costa Vice Principal Herb Hinsche.
"We don't have anywhere else to put the kids. We have two English classes meeting above the gymnasium five days a week. Those room were originally intended to be coaches' offices and storage rooms," he said.
If Measure M passes, many of the safety concerns and teaching space conflicts will be relieved over the plan's four-year timetable. The plan includes constructing several new classroom buildings, a new library, multimedia centers throughout the campus, and also a new maintenance and operations facility behind the gym. ER