Schools Tell Where the $97 Million Would Go

Detailing the growing needs of aging schools, the Conejo Valley Unified School District has released the most detailed campus-by-campus breakdown yet of how it would spend $97 million from the biggest local school bond measure ever faced by voters in Ventura County.

The newest list, issued last week in response to requests from The Times, includes projections of how much money each of the district’s 26 schools would receive for repairs and renovations if voters approve Measure Q this fall.

District administrators said the new information underscores why voters should consider such a large bond measure.

Despite the Conejo Valley’s pride in its schools, the community sends its children off to campuses that will continue to deteriorate in the post-Proposition 13 era without an influx of money. District officials paint an alarming picture:

Old pipes are bursting. Paint is peeling. Part of the roof is falling off at several schools.

Most classrooms lack the wiring needed to install phones and computers. None of the middle schools has a gym.

And because there is no air-conditioning at most campuses, kids spend their first weeks of the school year drenched in sweat, finding it difficult to concentrate on their studies, school officials say.

“They’re not going to look like the Taj Majal,” Assistant Supt. Gary Mortimer said of the district’s schools. “We’re not going to build big bell towers on them or anything. This is pretty simple stuff.”

Yet to Robin Westmiller, a mother of three who is the most vocal opponent of the $97-million school bond known as Measure Q, the district’s list of needs contains far too many frills. She wonders why district officials let the schools get so dilapidated in the first place.

“I don’t think the kids need air-conditioning,” Westmiller said. “They need to learn how to spell. They don’t need to tap keys on the computer so their teacher can take a break. They don’t need a gym. They have the outdoors. This is not New York. They need to be taught the basics, like subject and predicate.”

That is not how most local school activists see it, however. Joining together as the Committee for Measure Q, a group of parents promoting the measure agrees with the district that Conejo Valley schools lack fundamental resources--and they are willing to pay more to get them.

“Well, of course, nobody likes being taxed,” said Carol Enabnit, a school volunteer who has two children attending Conejo Valley schools.

“What? The children don’t need air-conditioning in California schools? That would be like saying you don’t need heating in Minnesota schools.”

If Measure Q is approved by a two-thirds majority of voters in the Conejo Valley, it will cost Thousand Oaks taxpayers an extra $24.96 a year for each $100,000 of assessed value on their houses. Property owners would pay that amount until the bonds are retired, which would likely take 25 years but could last as long as 40 years, according to the district’s tentative financial plan.

About two-thirds of the money, $62.9 million, would be used to modernize schools by repaving parking lots, replacing old gas and water lines, repairing roofs and renovating restrooms.

The remainder is slated for construction of new buildings such as $2 million for four gyms, $4 million for a pool and tennis courts at Westlake High School, $5 million for 30 more classrooms and $8 million to relocate or modernize Conejo Valley High, the district’s continuation school.

The repairs and renovations Conejo Valley Unified hopes to accomplish are actually expected to cost about $120 million. District officials hope to secure the rest of the money through state matching funds for school maintenance. The work could start as early as three months after the vote and would take as long as 10 to 15 years to complete.

Conejo Valley Unified Supt. Jerry Gross is optimistic that the voters in well-manicured Thousand Oaks are willing to pay the price for better-looking, less-crowded schools.

The district has been spending about half a million dollars a year on deferred maintenance, but that is not enough to catch up with the accumulating problems, Gross said. And state matching funds that are supposed to augment that amount do not always come through.

“People look at their homes and then they look across the street at the schools and tell me to fix them up,” the superintendent said. “They want them to look at least as presentable as their homes.

“I just got a letter from a mother today saying how horrible it looks at Westlake Elementary School.”

Because the district had declined to release detailed spending plans prior to last week, some Thousand Oaks residents were concerned about how the bond money would be used.

But after some public pressure to release specifics, the district on Thursday put out a semicomprehensive plan on how it intends to use the $97 million. The documents included a breakdown of how much money each school would receive and the top three renovation or construction priorities on each campus.

Jere Robings, head of the Ventura County Alliance of Taxpayers, said he had been asking for such a list for more than a month. Although Robings believes there is no need for air-conditioning at the schools, he said his review of the list has erased many of his doubts.

“So far, it looks fine,” Robings said. “I like what I’ve seen.”

He said he realizes Conejo Valley schools must be kept up to keep them from further deteriorating, and that the bond measure is a way to do it.

“They have to be maintained,” Robings said. “Otherwise, you have a much more costly project.”

Some parents say they have no beef with the district’s project list, but are annoyed with what they see as school officials’ use of taxpayer money to push Measure Q.

Under state law, school officials are allowed to use public money to disseminate information describing a bond measure--as long as the information is fair and impartial.

But Tommi Denney said she believes Conejo Valley Unified officials clearly crossed that line earlier this month when they sent a Measure Q flier home with schoolchildren.

Much to her surprise, Denney found what she termed “Measure Q propaganda” in the backpack of her 10-year-old daughter, Eryn.

The two-sided sheet told parents of “an opportunity of great importance to the schools of Thousand Oaks and the future education of your children.” It asked parents to register to vote if they had not done so already, and included a registration card.

On the flip side, it outlined the “Facts About Measure Q,” going on to say that “the following information is provided to assist voters in understanding the facts behind Measure Q and how its passage will benefit the entire district and its children.”

“It was unethical, if not illegal,” said Denney, who complained to school officials. “He [Supt. Gross] has no business spreading that information through my child. I don’t know where he thinks he is coming from, but I find that an extreme abuse of his power.”

Gross said school district attorneys closely reviewed the material and he considered using schoolchildren as couriers the most natural way of getting the information to parents.

“You don’t have to share all the facts as long as you paint a balanced picture,” Gross said. “You need to look at the mailings as a whole, not take [certain words or sentences] out of context.”

On a recent tour of Conejo Valley schools, maintenance officials pointed out examples of places on numerous campuses that are in need of repairs or modernized equipment.

For example, Newbury Park High School does not have phones in its classrooms. Teachers must send runners to the principal’s office to deliver messages. The classrooms are not wired for computers. And what little grass there is at the school is dry and brown, a situation that could be remedied with a new irrigation system, said Sean Corrigan, the district’s planning and facilities director.

At Acacia Elementary School, the paint on the door frames is chipped and peeling, a problem that could eventually cause further damage and lead to rotting wood during the rainy season, Corrigan said. There is also poor drainage at the school, which often results in near-flooding during the winter.

Smaller maintenance needs must also be addressed, he said, such as trimming a large pine tree at Conejo Elementary School which is dropping large pine cones that school officials worry could injure children. Doorknobs designed to meet government disabled-access requirements are also needed throughout most of the schools.

To arrive at the $97-million figure, school officials used two methods.

First, principals and maintenance workers met with Corrigan the week after schools let out to discuss top needs at each school. They came up with some preliminary cost estimates, relying on similar work at other districts as a measuring stick.

Corrigan, a former civil engineer for the Navy in Port Hueneme, also did calculations of his own and found that the principals’ needs and his own list of repairs were similar.

Employing a formula recommended by state officials, Corrigan estimated what the work would cost this way:

According to the state model, it costs $175 per square foot to completely rebuild a tattered building, and about 25% of that cost to modernize it.

So Corrigan multiplied each square foot of every school by $44. Then he added in cost estimates for new buildings such as middle school gyms, a tennis court and pool at Westlake High as well as a new wing to replace some portable classrooms at Westlake Hills Elementary School.

The initial list of improvements totaled close to $120 million, school officials said, but they decided to reduce the bond to $97 million because they hope to receive state matching funds. They also said they believe the $97-million figure would be more palatable to voters because it reduced the payments to about $25 per $100,000 of assessed property value.

“Probably $120 million is what we need,” Mortimer said. “And we won’t know exactly how bad a shape the pipes are in until we go digging around down there.”

A subsequent survey ordered by the San Francisco-based Dale Scott & Co. Inc., the district’s financial consultant, found that 77.3% of residents polled would vote for a $97-million bond.

Although Conejo Valley Unified’s maintenance troubles may seem unusually expensive to some residents, the same needs are actually quite common among aging California schools, educators said.

Simi Valley Unified School District, which is nearly identical in age and size to Conejo Valley, has similar electrical, plumbing, flooring, roofing and construction needs, said Assistant Supt. Dave Kanthak.

Nearly a decade ago, Simi Valley voters approved a $30-million bond to repair their schools. But today, Simi Valley Unified still has about $110 million in needed maintenance improvements, he said.

“That [$30-million bond] wasn’t nearly enough to do what needs to be done to fix up the district,” Kanthak said.

In other words, it’s not that Conejo Valley public schools have more maintenance problems than their Ventura County counterparts--it’s simply that district officials believe the people of Thousand Oaks are willing and able to pay to fix them.

Enabnit of the Committee for Measure Q believes the financial sacrifice for each household is minor, considering the lifestyle that Thousand Oaks residents can afford.

“Sure, I’d like to spend $100 and go out to lunch with my girlfriends,” Enabnit said. “But wouldn’t that taxable money be better spent on the educational enrichment of my children?”

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Spending Priorities

The Conejo Valley Unified School District is asking voters to consider a $97-million bond measure on Nov. 4 to pay for renovations and construction projects. The district wants to modernize its campuses, as well as build four new middle-school gyms and a pool at Westlake High. Here is the district’s projected distribution of the dollars, and the top three projects for each school:

Year built:

Cost to modernize:

Acacia Elementary

Year built: 1963

Cost to modernize: $1,465,112

* Install air-conditioning and heating

* Install classroom computer wiring

* Modernize restrooms

*

Aspen Elementary

Year built: 1967

Cost to modernize: $1,272,348

* Install air-conditioning and heating

* Install classroom computer wiring

* Renovate classrooms

*

Banyan Elementary

Year built: 1967

Cost to modernize: $1,519,452

* Refurbish classrooms and restrooms, maximize class-size reduction

* Construct lunch patio cover

* Renovate play areas and irrigation system

*

Conejo Elementary

Year built: 1958

Cost to modernize: $1,594,560

* Improve front parking lot

* Improve library and staff room building

* Install classroom computer wiring

*

Cypress Elementary

Year built: 1974

Cost to modernize: $1,340,240

* Replace roofs

* Replace carpets

* Upgrade air-conditioning and heating

*

Glenwood Elementary

Year built: 1963

Cost to modernize: $1,215,016

* Upgrade air-conditioning and heating

* Install classroom computer wiring

* Repair irrigation and drainage systems

*

Ladera Elementary

Year built: 1963

Cost to modernize: $1,544,884

* Install air-conditioning and heating

* Improve parking lots

* Re-roof classrooms

*

Madrona Elementary

Year built: 1964

Cost to modernize: $1,300,948

* Construct classroom buildings and restore learning laboratory

* Refurbish older classrooms

* Renovate restrooms

*

Manzanita Elementary

Year built: 1964

Cost to modernize: $1,614,844

* Install air-conditioning and heating

* Remove asbestos and replace flooring

* Construct covered outdoor eating area

*

Maple Elementary

Year built: 1974

Cost to modernize: $1,491,732

* Install air-conditioning and heating

* Install classroom computer wiring

* Cover and upgrade outdoor eating area

*

Meadows Elementary

Year built: 1961

Cost to modernize: $1,357,400

* Replace flooring

* Construct additional classrooms

* Modernize buildings including restrooms

*

Park Oaks Elementary

Year built: 1960

Cost to modernize: $1,615,372

* Install air-conditioning and heating

* Install classroom computer wiring

* Modernize buildings

*

University Elementary

Year built: 1964

Cost to modernize: $1,252,724

* Install air-conditioning and heating

* Paint inside of classrooms, library and multipurpose rooms

* Renovate playground and fields

*

Walnut Elementary

Year built: 1961

Cost to modernize: $1,526,624

* Install air-conditioning and heating

* Remove asbestos floor tiles and replace with carpeting

* Paint inside and outside of school

*

Weathersfield Elementary

Year built: 1962

Cost to modernize: $1,296,592

* Install air-conditioning and heating

* Install classroom computer wiring

* Construct facilities for class-size reduction

*

Westlake Elementary

Year built: 1971

Cost to modernize: $1,436,160

* Install classroom computer wiring

* Modernize restrooms and water fountains

* Renovate playground and blacktop areas

*

Westlake Hills Elementary

Year built: 1975

Cost to modernize: ** $2,610,504

* Replace upper grade temporary buildings with permanent structure

* Build new outdoor food court

* Build two additional restrooms

*

Wildwood Elementary

Year built: 1972

Cost to modernize: $1,245,728

* Repair roof on kindergarten and upper grade rooms

* Construct outdoor eating shelter

* Replace phone lines, intercom system, fire alarms

*

Colina Middle

Year built: 1964

Cost to modernize: ** $4,715,900

* Construct gymnasium

* Install air-conditioning and heating

* Install computer technology and communication lines

*

Los Cerritos Middle

Year built: 1972

Cost to modernize: ** $5,581,248

* Construct gymnasium and refurbish restrooms

* Construct two covered lunch shelters

* Install classroom computer wiring

*

Redwood Middle

Year built: 1966

Cost to modernize: ** $4,077,064

* Install air-conditioning and heating

* Upgrade technology and computer wiring

* Refurbish roofs and floors, and expand parking lots

*

Sequoia Middle

Year built: 1969

Cost to modernize: ** $4,942,016

* Install classroom computer wiring

* Install security system

* Replace floor tile and carpeting

*

Newbury Park High

Year built: 1965

Cost to modernize: $7,699,120

* Install air-conditioning and heating

* Install classroom computer wiring

* Renovate restrooms

*

Thousand Oaks High

Year built: 1961

Cost to modernize: $6,164,796

* Install classroom computer wiring

* Renovate restrooms

* Renovate gym and locker rooms

*

Westlake High

Year built: 1978

Cost to modernize: ** $12,729,336

* Install classroom computer wiring

* Renovate restrooms

* Construct swimming pool and tennis courts

OTHER PROJECTS:

Horizon Hills Preschool

Year built: 1967

Cost to modernize: $1,217,700 *

Conejo Valley Continuation High

Year built: 1924

Cost to modernize: ** $8,000,000

*

Conejo Valley Adult School

Year built: 1960

Cost to modernize: $1,452,220 *

Dos Vientos Elementary

Year built: 2001

Cost to modernize: *** $900,000

*

Lang Elementary

Year built: 1998

Cost to modernize: *** $900,000

*

Triunfo Elementary

Year built: 1976

Cost to modernize: $1,209,560

*

District warehouse, maintenance center

Year built: 1982

Cost to modernize: ** $5,000,000

*

30 classrooms at unspecified schools

Cost to modernize: $5,040,000

*

25 lunch shelters at various schools

Cost to modernize: $500,000

TOTALS: $96,829,200

* Modernization estimates are 25% of replacement cost, calculated under a state formula that multiplies $44 by the square footage of school buildings.

** The estimates for these schools include special projects such as building gymnasiums, a pool or other new structures.

*** These estimates are for yet-to-be built schools. The money would be spent on security systems and structures to reduce class sizes.

Source: Conejo Valley Unified School District