Lompoc Unified School District (LUSD) is trying once again to sell voters on a multi-million-dollar school bond to repair seriously neglected LUSD facilities.
Maintaining the places of learning is just as important as developing and presenting the students’ lesson plans. No one denies that Lompoc school facilities are in poor shape; most were constructed more than five decades ago.
Taxpayers, specifically property owners who would be responsible for paying this tax, are weary of “trust-me” proposals from any government agency. If you provide any level of government a blank check for generic proposals, they will spend every dime, then ask for more when their line of credit runs out.
So, this time around I want specifics on what LUSD will do and, most importantly, a list, by school, of what repairs need to be made. Then a priority for completion of repairs.
In the past few bond proposals, they didn’t provide anything other than a laundry list without specifics.
And, what happened to all those COVID relief funds? I thought the money was supposed to be used to improve ventilation filter systems to help reduce the spread of diseases. How much did the LUSD get and what was it spent on?
School bond renovation priorities that would sell this rate-payer would focus on students first. A listing of schools ranked by the most serious conditions should be developed; then the priority for use of bond monies would begin with the worst school first.
All classrooms need help, but some are far worse off than others.
Any effort to overhaul administrative areas would be the lowest priority and only completed if any funds from classroom renovations were left.
Next, be honest in your appraisal of the scope of this effort; if the windowsills are rotted by water damage, then the frame of the building is likely damaged as well. Any property owner who has done home renovations knows that what you see on the surface is only the tip of the iceberg.
If there are water spots on the ceiling, be prepared to not only replace the membrane covering and shingles on the roof, but also a sizable portion of the wooden decking underneath and, of course, the ceilings.
And once they get into the bones of these 50-year-old buildings, the electrical, water, wastewater, and fire detection/suppression systems will all need upgrades to meet current code requirements.
Many senior district officials don’t even live locally and probably don’t make many trips outside headquarters with their facilities staff. They instead rely on staff presentations.
Another consideration is that superintendents typically stay a couple of years, then move on to other venues, so there is no ownership of this issue long-term.
Lastly, there needs to be a concerted effort to develop a day-to-day operations and maintenance budget that acknowledges that buildings deteriorate over time.
The primary reason these buildings are falling apart is because an appropriate maintenance budget wasn’t established and maintained all these decades.
Lompoc Unified School District has a lot of work to do before placing the 2024 bond measure on the ballot, so roll your sleeves and finish your homework.
References:
https://www.noozhawk.com/article/lompoc_unified_school_district_to_try_again_for_bond_measure?utm_source=Noozhawk%27s+A.M.+Report&utm_campaign=0e7ebf7a47-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_01_11_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_cb376aba6e-0e7ebf7a47-247090233
https://www.noozhawk.com/lompoc-schools-bond-measure-likely-to-get-voter-support-in-2024-survey-finds/?utm_medium=email
