School improvement efforts heightening

Andrew Edwards

Proponents of a $228-million bond measure intended to repair old and

decrepit high schools have less than two weeks to get their message

out to voters.

As March 2 approaches, supporters say they will spend hours on the

phone with voters within the Huntington Beach Union High school

district area.

“We are phone-banking every single day except Friday,” said Nancy

Jenkins, one of three co-chairs on the campaign’s steering committee.

The initiative’s proponents are calling themselves “Citizens for

Quality Schools.”

School board member Susan Henry is another of the committee’s

co-chairs. She reports spending anywhere from 15 to 20 hours each

week working on the campaign.

“It’s a lot of work,” Henry said. “I’m surprised how much work it

is.”

While she is joined in her fight by trustee Michael Simons, one of

her colleagues on the board hopes the bond does not pass. Matthew

Harper, the only board member who voted against putting the bond on

the ballot in March, said he would prefer an initiative that

contained stronger provisions designed to make sure bond revenue is

properly spent, which would ensure that the district won’t need

another bond in the future.

“If the voters reject this bond in the March election, the school

board should consider replacing the accountability provisions before

making another attempt, and that can be done as early as November,”

Harper said.

Harper would prefer an initiative with accountability requirements

like those contained in Measure A, which was rejected by the

electorate in 1999. Measure A would have required the district to

maintain a reserve fund for school repairs, an idea geared toward

making the need for a future bond less likely.

The oversight committee would be more independent if the bond

outlined community groups that could appoint members of the oversight

committee instead of being appointed by the school board, as in

Measure C, he added.

The bond’s proponents, however, are confident revenues will be

spent properly.

“The money can only be spent on what is cited in the bond

measure,” Jenkins said.

A major public concern is that bond revenue will be spent on

salaries, Jenkins said. But by law, bond funds can only be used to

pay for maintenance projects.

The board has not yet decided, which repairs will be made first if

the bond passes, but some projects stand out as dire.

“We’re anxious to cure the plumbing problem at Huntington Beach

High School,” Simons said.

If Measure C passes, property owners in the district will have to

pay an additional $30 per $100,000 of assessed property value.

For many people, this will come out to around $75, Jenkins said.

“I tell them that would be the price of a pair of shoes,” she

added.

Measure A, a $123-million bond initiative for school repairs,

failed in 1999 after garnering 61.3% of the vote, short of the

two-thirds requirement. This year, Measure C only needs 55% of the

vote to pass. The passage of Proposition 39 in 2000 lowered the vote

requirement for school bonds and required school districts to appoint

a citizens’ oversight committee to monitor spending.

Though more than 55% of voters favored the bond in 1999, Simons

said the bond’s supporters should not assume Measure C already has

votes lined up.

“Four years makes a lot of difference,” he said.

The committee has organized parentss to set up campaign efforts at

each of the district’s high schools, and each coordinator oversees 10

to 20 volunteers.

“Those 20 all go out and get their friends to come in,” Jenkins

said.

The parent coordinator for Ocean View High School is Lana Miller,

a member of its first graduating class in 1980. Miller, who has

around 15 volunteers working with her, said the school’s facilities

still appear as they did in the 1970s.

“Paint doesn’t sound like it’s very important ... but our school

is still orange inside,” Miller said.