Long Beach Schools Plan Repairs With New Funds

With a windfall $295 million heading for their coffers, Long Beach school officials will begin prioritizing the repairs and construction to be funded by the bond measure passed Tuesday.

Final poll results show that 71% of the voters in the Long Beach Unified School District approved the bond measure, which required a two-thirds majority for passage. In all, 34,778 voters in Long Beach, Lakewood, Signal Hill and on Catalina Island voted.

The district is the third largest in the state and has not proposed a school bond measure since 1954, said Richard Van Der Laan, a district spokesman. However, the schools did win a campaign for a tax override in 1971.

Officials plan to combine the bond money with $200 million in state matching funds to build 13 schools and make $250 million in repairs to aging plumbing, heating, ventilation and electrical systems. School officials say the average age of district buildings is 52 years.

The bond will cost district taxpayers an average of $29.50 per $100,000 of assessed property value.

Although district officials have created a list of construction and repair needs, they have not created a timeline. Van Der Laan said they will do that by the end of spring, and much of the work will begin in June, when school is out.

In Lakewood, the City Council had refused to back the measure because many residents want to pull out of the district.

On Wednesday, Lakewood Mayor Joseph Esquivel said the city will push for quick repairs to Lakewood schools.

Also on Tuesday, City Council candidate Dan Baker won handily with 38% of the vote in a 10-way, no-runoff race for Long Beach’s District 2 seat.

Baker collected 1,417 votes, double that of the next runner-up, Clive Graham, who garnered 727. Baker, a 33-year-old U.S. Customs Service official, was endorsed by incumbent Alan Lowenthal, who left the council when he was elected to the state Assembly.

Tuesday’s election marked a historic first for Long Beach, as nearly half of all the votes cast were mail-in ballots, said City Clerk Shelba Powell.