Glendale Unified issues more bonds

Glendale school officials issued another $70 million in bonds last week as they move ahead with plans to upgrade facilities and replace classroom bungalows with one- and two-story buildings at 10 schools.

The recent issuance marks the second that Glendale Unified has made since voters passed the $270 million Measure S bond in April 2011.

The first $54 million Glendale issued in August 2011, went toward several projects including science-lab upgrades, installation of solar panels, improvement of campus security and building a better technological infrastructure.

Most of the newly issued funds are earmarked for facilities improvements as well, said Alan Reising, a facilities administrator at the school district. However, $16 million of the issuance will be spent on replacing classroom bungalows with new permanent buildings.

The district chose to issue its current bond amount in order to take advantage of more than $50 million in matching state grants which help California schools pay for the construction of permanent buildings if their campuses are overrun with portable bungalows.

In Glendale, 10 schools wait on a list for new classrooms.

“Every school is very excited about how this is going to affect and transform their individual campuses,” Reising said.

Crews plan to begin construction on new buildings at R.D. White and Verdugo Woodlands elementary schools next year, in addition to Hoover and Glendale high schools.

By 2016, Muir, Fremont, Jefferson and Balboa elementary schools will see construction on their campuses, and fellow elementaries, Lincoln and La Crescenta, will break ground on their classrooms in 2017.

Similar projects that have already been completed at Roosevelt Middle School as well as Columbus and Keppel elementary schools, had a “dramatic impact” to those campuses, Reising added.

Glendale school officials plan to issue another $70 million in 2016, $38 million two years later and a final $38 million in 2020.