Stepping Up for Schools

A turnout of nearly 1,000 people is good for just about any event short of pro sports or rock concerts. For a day of voluntary work, it’s startling.

When Huntington Beach Union High School District issued the call last month, it was resoundingly answered. Students, parents teachers and residents with no current connection to the district showed up to pick up brooms and paintbrushes.

The district billed the event as “School Pride Day” at its nine schools. District Supt. Susan Roper said the schools could not afford to do the needed touching up without volunteers. Despite taxes and income from the state lottery, schools are not having an easy time of it these days.

Volunteers deserve thanks for putting new workbenches in the auto shop at Edison High, cleaning the windows at Westminster High and scrubbing the sidewalks at Huntington Beach High.

District officials said the improvements could not fix deeper-seated problems, some of which will cost so much that they are considering asking voters to approve issuing bonds.

Roper said that while schools may look fine from the outside, inside the older buildings are outdated electrical systems, termites and bad pipes.

Homeowners should be able to sympathize with those problems. Bricks and mortar deteriorate over time. Money has to be spent to repair or replace worn-out parts of houses and schools alike.

But residents rightly need assurances that the money is needed for repairs and will be spent wisely. Matters aren’t helped by the unfortunately high threshold required by state law for passage, two-thirds of those voting.

The Anaheim City School District ran up against that burden a year ago, getting only 55% of the vote for its bond measure to build new elementary schools and repair existing ones. A brighter note appeared in Buena Park last November, with passage of a $13.8-million school bond measure.

Whether bond measures pass or fail, parent and student involvement with their schools is important. Events like Huntington Beach’s cleanup show that the community recognizes the importance of schools.