District to Borrow to Keep Schools Open After Tax Is Rejected
School officials voted Wednesday to borrow money to keep classrooms open, one day after a $7.6-million operating levy was defeated at the polls by a narrow margin.
“We haven’t solved the problem,” Supt. Giles Parker said after the 4-3 school board vote. “We’ve just delayed it. The system is still bad.”
The schools serve 4,300 students in this south coast city of 14,770 residents.
Voters rejected the district’s levy Tuesday, 3,883 to 3,858. Last month, the board had adopted a resolution that said schools would close on Oct. 1 if the levy failed.
The decision to borrow money means the levy will go before voters again in the Nov. 4 election, rather than in an Oct. 14 emergency election, Parker said.
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