Newhall, Las Virgenes School Bonds Defeated

Feisty opposition and a sluggish economy defeated school tax measures in Newhall and Las Virgenes as voters refused to spend more of their own money to help cash-strapped districts pay for new buildings and reduce class sizes.

In Newhall, a bond measure that would have provided $20 million for new elementary schools fell far short of the two-thirds vote necessary for passage. Measure C garnered 3,146 votes, or 56% in an election that drew only about 13% of the district’s voters.

School officials and other supporters had high hopes for the measure’s success because a similar proposal narrowly lost in June by only 121 votes. They said it was crucial to relieve crowding in the 4,800-student district, which is 900 students over capacity.

A similar measure that would have funded extra classes and reductions in class size in the 10,000-student Las Virgenes Unified School District fell 270 votes short of the necessary two-thirds. Prop. K received 6,457 votes, or 64%. About 34% of the district’s 30,102 voters cast ballots.

Prop. K would have raised about $12 million to reduce class sizes and add class periods at the district’s 12 schools between Calabasas and Westlake Village. School officials said they are unsure of what their next move will be in wake of the proposition’s defeat.

Supporters of both measures said the recession might have scared voters out of approving any new taxes. Both would have required property owners to pay roughly between $20 and $150 annually.

“The big ‘R’ word--recession--simply scared people from paying new taxes, even if it was just $30 more a year,” said George Pederson, chairman of Taxpayers for a Better Community, the citizens group supporting the Newhall measure.

Also, both measures faced spirited opposition from local groups who charged the districts with sloppy fiscal management and called for other, less-expensive methods of dealing with persistent budget crises. Tamsie Irvan, who lost her bid for a seat on the Newhall school board and was a leader in the opposition to Measure C, said the district should start a voluntary, year-round program to reduce overcrowding. Although parents collected about 9,000 signatures last year opposing year-round schools, Supt. J. Michael McGrath said he will propose at least two schools go to such a schedule in the wake of Measure C’s defeat.

“I think it’s a victory for people who are short-sighted and self-serving,” said Andrew Glassman, chairman of the Committee for Quality Education, a Las Virgenes District citizens group that supported Prop. K. “Had our message not been polluted, I think those crucial 270-odd votes would have gone in our direction.”

Without the measure, he said, classes would continue to overflow and electives would dwindle as district administrators pared annual budgets to make up for drops in state funding.

“Things have been getting worse and worse and worse,” Glassman said. “It’s hard to believe how it can get any worse, but it will.”