Letter to the editor

The news that the Huntington Beach City School District is going to

put a general obligation bond on the ballot next spring is indeed

heartening and welcome. Our schools’ needs have not diminished and

passing a school bond measure is as important and necessary today as it

was a year ago. Indeed inflation will only increase costs in the future.

Our schools have been well-maintained over the years. Visit or drive

by your neighborhood school. You will see fields and lawns that are

watered and mowed, buildings that are painted on a regular schedule and

classrooms that are clean and conduciveto teaching and learning. Children

have ample textbooks and are served by an outstanding teaching and

support staff. Performance is high on standardized tests and most of our

schools have been designated by the State of California as

“Distinguished.”

What you will not see is the schools’ inability to use technology due

to insufficient energy and classrooms that were constructed with only one

or two electrical outlets, heating systems that are obsolete and water

and sewer systems that are constantly under repair. Our schools do a good

good job of educating our children, but the fact is these facilities are

simply old and need to be modernized.

This isn’t surprising since the schools were built at the same times

as the communities they serve -- neighborhoods largely constructed in

the 1960s and 1970s. With a single exception, our schools range from 30

to 70 years old. They were built by an older generation and now it is

time to repair them.

The cost will not be insignificant. But the cost of not modernizing

our schools will be far greater in the long run.

Let’s face it, quality schools attract quality people; people who are

willing to pay a premium for the education of their children. This

premium is what increases property values. In addition, well educated

kids, with good schools and facilities, stand the best chance to succeed

and stay out of trouble. This provides safer communities and a quality of

life that you can’t find everywhere.

Last June a bond measure failed. A reason cited by some individuals

was the issue of what to do with the district’s three closed school

sites. In March of 2000, a community advisory committee recommended

maintaining the LeBard site as a district administrative center, securing

a long-term lease on the Gisler site and, by a very slim majority,

selling the Burke site.

As the committee was divided on the issue of selling the Burke site,

so was the board of trustees and voters.

Trustees have elected to maximize lease income on two closed sites --

Gisler and Burke -- and use the funds for other facility needs that

cannot be financed through a bond measure. Maximizing lease income has

the potential to generate significant revenues while preserving both

sites for future use as schools if needed, as open space for community

recreation and youth sports or as an asset to be sold in the future.

Not everyone agrees with the direction the board has taken to maximize

its lease income and one can argue whether the district would be more or

less likely to to get a better return with a sale or lease. But in

neither case is the district “sitting on an asset” and whatever ones

position might be, it is the children who have become innocent bystanders

in this debate. Children should not suffer because adults have

disagreements.

A successful bond measure will make certain the district is able to

repair and upgrade schools and classrooms.

My fervent hope is that the community will come together with a single

strong voice of support for children and schools in the spring.

DUANE DISHNO

Huntington Beach

Editor’s Note: Duane Dishno is the former superintendent of the

Huntington Beach City School District.