LAUSD poised to put $9-billion bond measure, its largest, before voters in November

Alberto Carvalho gets a tour of a new electric school bus from driver trainer Albino Rosas at the San Julian bus yard in Los Angeles on Aug. 2, 2024. Los Angeles school officials on Wednesday will decide whether to put a $9-billion school construction bond on the ballot in November — the largest in district history and comparable in size to the $10-billion statewide school bond measure that is already going before voters. L.A. school officials said in a staff report that the needs “are great — more than 60% of school buildings are over 50 years old and desperately in need of upgrades, which means most of Los Angeles Unified students are attending school in deteriorating and aging facilities that do not meet today’s standards for learning and safety.” “Despite the upgrades that have already been completed or are underway, current estimates show that collectively Los Angeles Unified schools have over $80 billion of unfunded school facility and technology needs, and those needs grow every year,” according to the report. A summary of the initiative, posted Tuesday, spoke of the need “to upgrade, modernize, and replace aging and deteriorating school facilities, including school technology infrastructure and equipment.” Goals also include “enhancing and expanding outdoor spaces and food services for students” and promoting “energy efficiency.” From the mid-1980s through the early 2000s, the school system coped with crowding by operating year-round — but with a calendar that reduced the number of school days for students by nearly a month. Using the district’s description of the measure’s impact, she calculated that over 30 years, the owner of a median-priced home “would pay over $8,200 in increased property taxes for this bond alone.” She added: “With enrollment declining, taxpayers have a right to ask that all possible cost savings be implemented before the district asks for another tax increase.” The Jarvis association also opposes the state school bond.