Cramming for Needs Test

Local schools have little resemblance to campuses in other areas where the need for multimillion-dollar bond measures has been reflected by crowded and crumbling facilities.

At the nine schools in the Moorpark Unified School District, the paint isn’t flaking and windows aren’t patched with tape. Classrooms are air conditioned so students aren’t suffocating in sweltering heat.

And classrooms have never been so crowded that the district has seen a need to operate on a year-round schedule.

Nevertheless, the district will ask voters Nov. 4 to pass a $16-million bond measure to help pay for new classrooms, a high school gymnasium and libraries with computer centers.

A portion of the bond money also would go toward improving school technology and modernizing the two oldest campuses, Flory Elementary and Chaparral Middle School.

“People perceive that things are going well, but we want them to know with the bond issue we want to make things even better,” school board President Tom Baldwin said. “We don’t want to be satisfied with just good schools.”

If voters approve Measure U, property owners would pay an additional $29 a year in taxes per $100,000 in assessed property value for up to 30 years. The money cannot be used for salaries or operating expenses, but can only go toward constructing or improving school facilities.

Yet the committee in support of the measure faces several challenges.

The first is persuading voters that the bond money is needed despite the fact that the city’s schools appear in good shape.

School district officials argue that just because there are no visible signs of decay, it doesn’t mean the schools don’t need work.

And they are quick to point out that the bulk of the money is not for maintenance, but will be used to build new classrooms and other facilities to accommodate student growth.

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Moorpark’s student population has more than tripled since 1985, reaching a peak of 7,100 students this school year.

“The schools are supposed to be in good shape,” said Moorpark Supt. Tom Duffy. “What we’ve done in Moorpark is what we are supposed to do. This is not about maintenance. . . . We are continuing to grow and there are needs at the school sites that have not been met.”

In addition, because state money has become increasingly harder to come by, district officials say they have been forced to find new sources of money to push forward with construction and renovation projects.

Over the past 10 years, the district has been able to bring in more than $80 million in state money. But officials point out that over the past five years the state has been giving out fewer grants that pay for 100% of a project.

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Instead, the state is largely going toward matching grants that require schools to come up with half the money.

“We’ve never had to think of double sessions or year-round schools because we always managed to keep a good eye on the situation,” Baldwin said. “But the bond issue is crucial because the state is going to 50-50.”

In the November election, supporters of the school bond also will have to contend with another measure on the Moorpark ballot aimed at improving city parks.

Moorpark’s Measure P would generate tax money to help maintain the city’s 13 parks. If approved, property owners could see their taxes increase by up to $68.50 a year.

“My initial thinking was that the two together will cause us both to go down,” Baldwin said. “I don’t know that either one is going to pass . . . but how it turns out on election day I don’t know.”

If voters approve Measure U, it would be the first successful bond initiative in the district’s history.

District officials pursued a $25-million bond in 1990, but it failed to garner the two-thirds vote required for passage.

The lion’s share of this year’s bond money, $9 million, would go toward improvements at Moorpark High School.

The district’s only comprehensive high school has seen its student population more than double to 1,750 students since opening its doors in 1988.

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Bond money would go toward building a second gymnasium, a new music room and new science labs, which now accommodate more students than they were built for.

As with other programs at the high school, the music program run by Bob Hackett has been steadily growing. He said he has difficulty fitting his bands in the classroom for rehearsals.

“Whenever we have the whole group in the room, it’s cramped,” Hackett said. “You should see it when I have the whole group here. It’s not a pretty sight.”

Money would also go toward improving school technology. Each school will have its buildings wired for computers and Internet access.

Chaparral Middle School, the only school already wired for computers, hopes to be hooked up to the Internet by Thanksgiving.

Principal Michael Berger is excited about the prospects of an expanded library with a computer center, which two other schools also will receive.

Pulling a 1959 history book off the school’s library shelf, he said computers in the library would really help students.

“It will be 40 years old,” Berger said of the textbook. “That doesn’t mean there’s nothing good in here, but on the Internet you can get the old stuff as well as the new stuff.”

The district has put together a parent committee, which is gearing up for the elections. And so far, there is no organized opposition to the bond.

The Moorpark Educators Assn. has not taken an official position on the measure but plans to vote sometime this week whether to endorse the initiative.

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Spending Priorities

The Moorpark Unified School District is asking voters to approve a $16-million bond measure on the Nov.4 ballot to pay for school improvements. The bulk of the money would go toward upgrading the district’s largest campus, Moorpark High School. If approved, the money would pay for new classrooms, science labs and a gymnasium at the high school. In addition, district officials say every classroom would be wired for computers and Internet access. Here is the district’s projected distribution of dollars:

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School: Arroyo West Elementary

Year built: 1991

Cost to moderize: $624,000

Construct two permanent classrooms with two restrooms.

Wire all classrooms for computers and Internet access.

Install a telephone in every classroom.

Build handball courts

Reshape the slopes to creat more school space for classrooms or playground area.

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School: Campus Canyon Elementary

Year built: 1988

Cost to moderize: $697,000

Construct two permanent classrooms with two restrooms.

Wire all classrooms for computers access to the Internet.

Install a telephone in every classroom.

Expand the parking lot.

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School: Flory Elementary

Year built: 1928

Cost to moderize: $1,043,500

Build a library with a computer center.

Install new lighting, carpets, shelving, window treatments, cabinetry and roofing in some wings.

Wire all classrooms for computers and Internet access.

Install a telephone in every classroom.

Purchase playground equipment and improve playground surface.

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School: Mountain Meadows Elementary

Year built: 1987

Cost to moderize: $224,000

Wire all classrooms for computers and Internet access.

Construct additional restrooms.

Redesign playground to create more space for classrooms.

Install a telephone in every classroom.

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School: Peach Hill Elementary

Year built: 1984

Cost to moderize: $565,525

Construct a library with a computer center.

Construct restrooms.

Wire all classrooms for computers and Internet access.

Install a telephone in every classroom.

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School: Chaparral Middle School

Year built: 1959

Cost to moderize: *$1,102,000

Build a library with a computer center.

Install new lighting, carpets, plumbing, shelving, windows treatments, cabinetry and roofing in some wings.

Install a telephone in every classroom.

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School: Mesa Verde Middle School

Year built: 1994

Cost to moderize: $671,500

Construct an outdoor performing arts amphitheater for plays, assemblies and graduations.

Expand parking lot.

Wire all classrooms for computers and Internet access.

Install a telephone in every classroom.

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School: Community High

Year built: 1993

Cost to moderize: $684,000

Construct two permanent classrooms.

Convert the science classroom into a science laboratory.

Wire classrooms for computers and Internet access.

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School: Moorpark High School

Year built: 1988

Cost to moderize: $9,062,000

Build 10 permanent classrooms.

Construct five science labs.

Build a second gymnasium and second music building.

Convert seating area in the current gymnasium into an eating area, student services office and classrooms.

Wire all classrooms for computers and Internet access.

Install a telephone in every classroom.

Expand parking lot.

OTHER PROJECTS

All elementary schools will receive playground safety matting, a type of cushioning put below playground equipment.

Cost to modernize: $”50,000

Totals: Cost to modernize: **$14,923,525

* Chaparral already has wiring in all buildings for computers and hopes to have access to the Internet by Thanksgiving.

** While the total is $14.9 million, the bond measure is $16.180 million to account for projected inflation over the next four to six years. That is the period that district officials predict they will need to complete all school projects.

Source: Moorpark Unified School District