Voters Narrowly Reject School Bond

A school bond measure that sought $27.4 million to make capital improvements in the Arcadia Unified School District failed by less than 1% Tuesday to capture the two-thirds vote needed for approval.

“Coming close is always tough,” Superintendent Terry Towner said Wednesday. “I’m most disappointed for the people who put their hearts and souls together to try to get it passed.”

The measure received 65.8% of the vote but needed 66.7% to win. Arcadia residents voted 4,137 in favor and 2,146 against the bond. The voter turnout of 23.8% was higher than in the last municipal election, according to the city clerk’s office.

The school bond measure would have assessed an annual fee on property owners for 25 years. Homeowners would have paid $20 annually per $100,000 of assessed value.

Arcadia, which has 11 campuses and 8,200 students, intended the money for improving deteriorating school buildings that range from 25 to 80 years old. School officials said those repairs will be postponed.

“Our high school is going to pay,” Towner said. “We’ve got plumbing and electrical and those kinds of problems and we’re not going to be able to do the modernization that’s so necessary.”

The results are especially frustrating for parents, many of them Asian, who moved to Arcadia because of the district’s strong academic reputation. Towner said SAT scores are in the top 2% and that 93% of high school seniors go on to college.

Jim Kelly, a parent who worked on the bond committee, said the measure received a majority yes vote in every precinct, including those dominated by senior citizens. He said the committee plans to spend the next month retrenching.

“We’re proud of our community and we’re proud of the fact that we were able to get strong support from all our parents, our seniors and all the new Asians in the community,” Kelly said. (Asians now make up 42% of the district enrollment.) “Unfortunately, a small minority was able to overcome the will of the majority.”

School officials blamed the ongoing recession, the 63-day Sacramento budget impasse and anti-tax sentiments nationwide for the bond’s failure to pass. Last year, a similar school bond measure was defeated narrowly in La Canada Flintridge schools.