Parents approve bond plan

A committee of parents voted Monday night to approve Supt. Robert Barbot’s plan for the first phase of projects under a $282-million school renovation bond.

At the third weekly meeting of the Measure F Equity Committee, which consists of 21 parents living in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, the members voted 17-1 in favor of Barbot’s proposal. The projects on the superintendent’s list, which is awaiting an expected $60 million in bond money later this year, include a replacement for the closed Robins Hall at Newport Harbor High School, a gymnasium at TeWinkle Middle School and a stadium at Estancia High School.

Barbot, backed by Deputy Supt. Paul Reed, first proposed his plan to the committee two weeks ago. After hearing members’ input during the first two meetings, Barbot added a pair of items to the proposal: planning for new multipurpose rooms at all elementary schools, and also new technology purchased for those sites.

After the meeting, Reed said it was possible that Newport-Mesa could have more money than it planned to spend on the first group of projects. The district is trying to solicit state funds for a new Robins Hall, and Costa Mesa United, a local citizens group, may offer significant funds for athletic facilities.

Otherwise, the project should be intact when the district sells the first bonds later this year, Reed said.

“Things would have to change significantly in the next five months for the plan to be altered,” he said.

Now that the committee has recommended the plan, the school board must give it final approval before the district can order bonds. Barbot and Reed have set 2008 as the expected year for the next bond sale, provided that enough property tax money is available. At the meeting, the district offered a list of projects for the second phase, most of them construction work on theaters, athletic facilities and middle school campuses.