“We are solely focused right now on repairing our aged facilities, and making sure that our students can learn in that environment.” School Board member Triston Ezidore restated the position that had been put forth by every board member.
The discussion of putting a $358 million dollar bond on an upcoming ballot, with the monies to be used for infrastructure repair, was a point of intense and lengthy discussion at the Nov. 14, 2023 CCUSD Board meeting. It also required repeated emphasis that the bond would be used for facilities.
Board President Paula Amazola offered “We have millions of dollars that will be exiting our budget this year, because of COVID money ending, and the money that we spent on [researching workforce housing] is an investment in the future. We own that, and we can revisit that later. The communication needs to be very simple. Bond money cannot be spent on workforce housing.”
A powerpoint presentation on specifics of the proposed bond, from the Interim Superintendent Dr. Maria Martinez-Poulin, noted that the schools were built in the 1950’s and are in need of major upkeep and repairs. Some campuses have a tendency to flood when it rains, and tales of falling ceiling tiles have been heard at many board meetings.
In a survey put out by the district, 90% of respondents stated that the priority was to have “safe, clean schools in good repair.” The amount of funding needed for infrastructure repair and upkeep will be broken into stages, and any project for more than $60,000 must be put out to bid.
The $358 million dollars would be scheduled as $60 per every $100,000 of assessed value per property.
Culver City Unified School District currently has the third lowest rate tax in the county. Both Santa Monica and Beverly Hills have done three bonds in the last 15 years.
The District is already soliciting volunteers for the Citizens Oversight Committee.
More information on the proposed bond is available at ccusd.org
Judith Martin-Straw
