California Elections : Measures Aim to Increase Class Space and Upgrade Facilities

At Ramona Elementary School in Hollywood, the school psychologist’s “office” is a corner of a cramped book room, the speech teacher has the back of the auditorium, and the bilingual specialist works in a former girls’ lavatory.

Recess is held in three sessions to avoid overcrowding the playground, and students are not allowed to play games such as kick-ball because there isn’t enough room. The school has more than 1,000 students attending on a year-round schedule, while 400 others who can’t be squeezed in are bused 40 minutes away to more spacious campuses in the San Fernando Valley.

“We use every bit of space we have,” Principal Richard Torchia said, and more classrooms are on the drawing board. But a heightened demand for classroom space, brought about by rising birthrates and immigration, and the sluggish pace of school construction almost guarantee that Ramona will not have room to spare for a long time.

Proposition 53, an $800-million school-construction bond issue, has been placed on the Nov. 4 ballot with schools such as Ramona Elementary in mind. In districts throughout the state, school enrollments are going up faster than classrooms, and local districts are falling further behind each day in their efforts to keep pace. Because of a lengthy state approval process, it takes about five years to open a new school.

Santa Ana Unified School District, now the largest in Orange County with 37,000 students, is growing by 1,000 students a year. Although the district has plans to build 11 elementary schools and one high school, district officials have resorted to other measures to handle the burgeoning enrollment.

At some campuses, students arrive at different times to make maximum use of school facilities. A temporary campus consisting entirely of portable classrooms has been developed to house 370 students at one site, and a former church recently was converted to classrooms for 500 students. In addition, district officials are discussing the feasibility of sharing park facilities with the city that may be appropriate for classroom use, as well as opening “starter schools” with temporary bungalows on the construction sites of new schools.

If approved by voters, Proposition 53 will be the first installment of a $5-billion classroom financing plan signed by Gov. George Deukmejian in September. The plan authorizes the Nov. 4 bond measure, as well as a second $800-million bond issue in 1988, and $600 million over four years from tideland oil revenues. It also provides districts the authority to raise $1.6 billion in developer fees.

Even if all this help is forthcoming, rapidly growing districts will find it a struggle to keep up.

Many Orange County school districts need new facilities or improvements, said Bob Ours, administrator of facilities and planning for the Orange County Department of Education.

“The need is spread throughout the county,” he said. Districts like Santa Ana need to refurbish older facilities, while newer districts are trying to accommodate the growing communities they serve. “The potential for growth is extensive,” Ours said.

Officials of the Irvine Unified School District, for example, project more than 20,000 students by 1989, up from 18,700 this year, said David King, director of facilities planning and development.

Already, the district is building an additional elementary school, is planning to build three others and is expanding two of its three high schools. Just this school year alone, enrollment has grown by 1,200 over last year, King said.

A few districts, such as the Westminster School District, are thinking of reopening schools that were closed during the last 10 years, as the birthrate declined, Ours said.

With nearly 600,000 students of its own--and 82,000 more expected by 1990--the Los Angeles district needs $1 billion over the next five years to build classrooms and update or enlarge existing campuses. The district has 18 schools on the drawing board now, but “we can’t build them fast enough for the growth we have here,” said Max Barney, who helps oversee district construction.

Statewide, the number of elementary and secondary school students is expected to grow by 600,000 by 1994; the cost of building classrooms to accommodate the increase is estimated at between $5 billion and $8 billion.

The November ballot measure “puts in place the $5-billion plan. It is the first installment,” said state Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig, one of the bond measure’s proponents, along with Deukmejian and Assemblywoman Teresa Hughes (D-Los Angeles). “So it is an absolute necessity to get this bond passed.”

The sole ballot opponent of Proposition 53 is Ellison Bloodgood of the United Voters League, who wrote in a ballot statement that the state’s educational system already is receiving ample funding and should not require more. Bloodgood also suggested that lottery funds should be used to build schools.

Lottery Funds Restricted

The state lottery law, which appropriates one-third of lottery revenues to public schools, specifically forbids using lottery funds to finance capital improvements. Proponents of the bond measure are concerned, however, that misperceptions about how the lottery has helped schools may cause voters to underestimate the need for the money.

“There is that perception out there” that the lottery is satisfying all school needs, including building, Honig said. “We’re trying to dispel it. The lottery can’t be used for construction. . . . It was never meant to take care of the construction problem.”

Until recently, local districts had been unable to raise construction funds on their own through local bonds or levying tax increases. Proposition 13, passed in 1978, took away that right and effectively made the state the primary source of school building funds.

Officials Not Optimistic

Voters passed a measure on the June ballot restoring to districts a limited ability to issue bonds and raise taxes. The proposed developer fees authorized in the legislation signed by the governor last month also will help in districts where residential and commercial construction is occurring.

Despite these changes, many district officials are not optimistic that local revenue-raising efforts can be successful and that, therefore, winning approval of the state bond measure is crucial.

According to Stephen Phillips, business manager for the 30,000-student Montebello Unified School District, where enrollment is growing by 600 students a year, the new developer fees will not help because little residential or commercial development is taking place in the area.

‘Distinct Lack of Success’

He is equally pessimistic about the possibility of passing a local bond measure. “That takes two-thirds approval by the voters. We keep track of districts that try it, and they’ve had a distinct lack of success.”

Also on the ballot is Proposition 56, a $400-million bond measure that would pay for expansion and upgrading of University of California, California State University and community college campuses.

According to its proponents--state Sen. Gary K. Hart (D-Santa Barbara), Deukmejian and UC President David Gardner--the public colleges and universities have depended primarily on tideland oil revenues to finance capital improvements, but those funds have been shrinking rapidly, while the need for enlarged facilities and refurbishing, especially science laboratories, has not.

In their ballot statement, Proposition 56 advocates say the bond measure would pay for new classrooms, upgrading to meet earthquake and safety standards and equipping state-of-the-art research facilities.

In a ballot rebuttal, conservative Assemblymen Nolan Frizzelle (R-Huntington Beach) and Don Sebastiani (R-Sonoma) argue that the bond will place too heavy a burden on taxpayers and that the money should instead come out of the state budget.

If the proposal passes, officials at UC Irvine plan to use $13 million in Proposition 56 money to expand facilities at both the medical center in Orange and the 14,600-student campus, where officials are running short of lecture halls.

The university had to turn a new research facility into a makeshift lecture hall for 1,200 students, and two neighboring theaters--with a total of 730 seats--are being rented for lectures, said spokeswoman Colleen Bentley-Adler.

At Cal State Fullerton, the last expansion of facilities occurred 10 years ago, while fall enrollment of full-time students has grown from 10,000 to 17,000 this fall, said Thomas Coley, executive assistant to the president.

“We are far behind in having the facilities to accommodate the students we have,” especially in science and engineering fields, where student interest is growing, Coley said.

Recently, the heads of UC Irvine, Cal State Fullerton, Chapman College and Saddleback Community College praised Proposition 56 at a news conference.

Orange County universities and community colleges expect to receive a total of $29 million for facilities and equipment if the proposition passes, education officials said.