School Board to Seek $295-Million Bond Issue
Faced with crumbling campuses and swollen enrollments, the Long Beach Board of Education will ask voters to consider a $295-million school bond measure to pay for repairs and build schools.
The board voted unanimously at a board meeting this week to put the measure on the next municipal election ballot in March.
The money is needed to patch up and modernize schools throughout the district, add classrooms to existing schools and build 13 campuses, said district spokesman Dick Van Der Laan.
“We’ve had a steady, unrelenting growth [in enrollment], heavy use of our existing schools and a steady deterioration of our facilities,” he said.
Almost 90% of district schools were built more than 40 years ago, according to the district’s business services administrator, Lisa Dutra.
The district last issued school bonds to repair and construct facilities in 1954.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
