The Redondo Beach Board of Education has taken its case for Measure Q to the parents and guardians of children enrolled in Redondo Beach Unified School District.
In a letter dated Sept. 18, Superintendent Steven Keller and Board of Education President Anita Avrick encouraged parents to support Measure Q—a $63 million general obligation bond that would pay for technology and energy upgrades across the district—on the Nov. 6 general election ballot.
"If approved by voters, Measure Q would allow the District to meet today's safety, technological, and educational standards," wrote Keller and Avrick. "It will make the District more efficient and better able to withstand the State budget fluctuations. It will improve student access to educational technology, a key to 21st century learning. It will complete the investment in our classrooms, infrastructure, and facilities."
The measure, which will cost property owners $24 per $100,000 of assessed valuation per year, will pay for upgrades to the district's electrical systems—including the installation of solar panels—to make them more energy efficient and reduce cost; build new classrooms; and pay for new classroom technology.
Funds from general obligation bonds can only be used for capital improvements; they cannot pay for teacher salaries.
The school district has found itself in the middle of a budget crunch this year. For the first time in recent memory, furlough days have been instituted, and if neither of two tax measures to fund education pass this November, the district may have to implement more.
The two measures on the ballot—Proposition 30 and Proposition 38—both call for tax increases to support schools. Proposition 30, introduced by Gov. Jerry Brown, calls for a quarter-cent increase in the state sales tax and raises taxes on the state's top earners. Molly Munger's Proposition 38 increases state income tax rates for most Californians for 12 years.
