Poll results show split on bond vote

Andrew Wainer

As the vote nears for a controversial $160-million bond issue for the

Huntington Beach Union School District, a poll of voters shows the debate

in a virtual dead heat.

Results of the poll, conducted in September by the Fairbank, Maslin and

Maulen research firm, indicate:

* 41% of registered voters would vote “yes” on the bond issue.

* 24% would probably vote yes.

* 7% would probably vote no.

* 15% would definitely vote no.

* 13% were unsure.

The bond issue needs a two-thirds vote to pass. The poll had a 3.5%

margin of error.

If the bond passes, homeowners would be asked to pay $27 per $100,000 of

the assessed value of their home for about 30 years.

The bond issue has been a point of contention in the district for months.

It entered the legal arena in August when opponents of the bond were

ordered by the court to delete a paragraph from a ballot statement that

bond supporters said was false. And last week, opponents accused the

district of violating education codes by using tax dollars to promote the

bond.

The issue has been further complicated by reports that the state would be

unable to pay its share of the $160-million total school repair bond even

if is is approved by voters.

Huntington Beach Union High School District officials said those doubts

are ungrounded.

“I think it’s misleading,” said district Supt. Susan Roper. “We are

qualified for the funds, according to the state’s guidelines, so we are

not concerned about the money.”

Indeed, Patricia Koch, assistant superintendent for business services,

said two of the five schools already have been approved for funds from

the state.

But published reports last week quoted neighboring Westminster School

District officials as saying they were denied $20 million in state repair

funds after the state “ran out of money” in June. Westminster planned to

use the money to help upgrade 16 schools in the district.

The shortfall forced Westminster to delay the project indefinitely,

eroding the district’s confidence in Sacramento and leaving some district

officials bitter.

“I wouldn’t count on the state at all,” Public Information Officer Trish

Cannady said.

The delay has been even more frustrating, Westminster officials said,

because it was one of the first districts to have its modernization plans

approved by the state.

“We were done ahead of time,” Cannady added.

State program manager Dave Ziah said the notion that the state is out of

money is absurd. He said the state is set to dispense $1.3 billion for

modernization and repairs, starting July 1, 2000, when the new funding

cycle begins.

Ziah said that when the 1999 funding cycle was exhausted in June, it was

legally prohibited from dispensing more repair funds until the start of

the new cycle in July 2000.

That, he stressed, is different from the claim that the state is not

going to provide the money or that it is out of funding.

“The money has been authorized and will be allocated, but we cannot use

it until next year.”

The backlog in applications has forced Sacramento to create a “waiting

line” of schools ready to receive state funds. Nevertheless, Ziah said

Westminster and Huntington Beach Union are both well in the funding queue

to receive state money come July.

“Historically, districts positioned [like Westminster and Huntington

Beach Union] will receive state funds,” he said. “I think it’s a slam

dunk that they will receive the money. I don’t see a problem. I think

both districts are in a really good spot.”

About 5,600 school districts have applied for a piece of the $9.2-billion

dollar state bond passed last November under Proposition 1A. The bond was designated for repair, modernization and construction of state schools

from the elementary to the university level.