District won’t seek another bond measure -- at least not yet

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- The Huntington Beach Union High School District will

seek almost $60 million in modernization funds from the state as an

alternative to its failed Nov. 9 bond election, district officials said

last week.

The board of trustees approved a district staff plan to seek $59.1

million from the state to help cover the expense of repairing its high

schools, some of which have sinking buildings, leaky roofs and poor

plumbing.

Assistant Supt. Patricia Koch outlined the plan during a special session

last Thursday.

“The state money will not make our schools what they ought to be,” Koch

said.

Consultants have estimated the district needs $160 million to bring its

campuses up to date. But Measure A, which was turned down by voters last

month, could have brought the district $137 million from local property

owners and an additional $37 million in state matching funds, but the

measure failed.

Board members concluded their best bet now is to seek state matching

funds from Proposition 1A.

Under Proposition 1A, districts in need must put up 20% of the funds it

needs to repair its facilities. The state then provides the remaining

80%.

State officials have estimated the high school district needs about $37

million for its most basic repairs. But with the failure of Measure A,

the district is now entitled to almost $19 million more in “hardship”

funds.

“If a district has an unsuccessful bond election, that makes them a

welfare district,” Supt. Susan Roper said. “The state then lowers the

amount the district has to provide for matching funds and will increase

its part of modernization money.”

Roper said the district could receive $13 million in “facility hardship”

funds to repair Fountain Valley High School, which has one building

that’s sinking into a bog. The district is also eligible for $5.6 million

in financial hardship funds.

State officials have said the money could be available in July.

“We are working on the applications right now,” Roper said.

However, the $60 million is not guaranteed, Roper said. The mounds of

paperwork that district staff is now laboring over must be approved by

state authorities before the money can be given to the district.

As for the district’s 20%, Roper said that $2.9 million “will take up all

our available resources.”

She said the district will use developers fees and facilities lease fees

to help fund the match.

Roper said she hopes work can begin next summer.

But state matching funds are not the district’s only option.

In March, the voters will decide on Proposition 26, which if passed will

lower the threshold on school repair bond elections. School bonds now

need a two-thirds majority to pass. Proposition 26 would lower that to a

simple majority.

“If Proposition 26 passes, the odds are quite high that we would do

another bond election,” Roper said.

In the Nov. 9 election, about 61% of voters said yes to the bond.

But as the district weighs its options for a future bond election, some

in the community have questions about the last bond campaign, which is

undergoing a district attorney’s office investigation for alleged

election violations, said Assistant Dist. Atty. Carolyn Carlisle-Rains.

Carlisle-Rains would not comment on the investigation, except to say that

it was ongoing.

Documents show that the Repair Our Neighborhood Schools campaign, which

lobbied for the November bond, received thousands of dollars from

architects who stood to benefit financially from a successful election.

KPI Architects, which produced some of the plans for the district’s

modernization project, contributed $25,000 to the bond campaign.

KPI President David Kindred said the failure of the bond election cut

back the amount of work his firm would do for the district, depriving it

of business.

Y’Deen Associates architectural firm donated $9,000 to the campaign.

David Y’Deen said his firm would have benefited financially if the bond

election had passed.

“Some of our projects are on hold because of the failed bond election,”

Y’Deen said.

Officials at the Fair Political Practices Commission said it is not

uncommon for contractors to help fund school repair bond campaigns to

increase their business.