Lake Elsinore USD Seeking $198M In Bonds With Measure T

This November, voters in the Lake Elsinore Unified School District will be asked whether or not to approve Measure T, a $198 million bond package that will be used to address security concerns and aging infrastructure and create additional spaces for transitional kindergarten classes.

“For larger safety and security measures, for instance, a bond could bring the opportunity for the district to employ a districtwide automatic door locking system,” James Judziewicz, assistant superintendent for Facilities and Operations Support Services, said. “And there are other security and safety concerns, but that’s a larger one. That’s a bond type effort.”

When it comes to infrastructure, he said the district was looking at replacing or repairing roofs and heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) units to ensure air quality at campuses across the district as well as finding ways to replace aging portable buildings and create additional spaces for the youngest of the district’s students.

In addition, Judziewicz said the bond will be used to address other needs at specific school sites identified in the district’s facilities master plan.

“Some need new playgrounds, some need improved field areas, and some need, you know, completely new buildings,” he said. “It just depends on which school we’re talking about and the level of improvements that we need to make there or would like to make there.”

Judziewicz said the bond effort has received the endorsement of both the Lake Elsinore Parent Teacher Student Association Council and school specific Parent Teacher Associations throughout the district as well as the teachers union.

“I’ve been around the district and just talking to folks in general, not an organization, but it’s the growth,” he said. “We see the new housing developments going up around our district in certain pockets, and we know that’s going to continue, so the idea of being ready for expansion has been a positive for us as we’ve talked to people.”

Voters previously approved Measure V in 2016, which provided the district with $105 million in bonds, $55 million of which was earmarked specifically for capital improvements. The last of the capital improvement funds is currently being used for the Elsinore Elementary multi-purpose room. Judziewicz said the remaining $50 million from that bond will be used to continue updating the district’s technology devices.

“In fact, the tech plan this year started to distribute laptop computers to all of our freshmen, all of our ninth graders at all of our high schools,” he said. “So those types of devices will need to be replenished in coming years, and that bond will take care of that. This new bond, Measure T, is strictly for a capital building program.”

When it comes to property taxes, the district is asking voters to approve a levy of up to $28 for every $100,000 in assessed value for all residential, commercial and industrial properties. Judziewicz said the average property owner would see an increase of approximately $104 per year.

“The term of the bond is 37 years, so that’s a 37-year payback,” he said. “And we also become eligible, then, with a $198 million bond, to eventually be able to access possibly $100 million or more in state matching funds as we build projects.”

Judziewicz said now is the right time for this bond because it will allow the district to continue improving its facilities while also putting it in a favorable position to get state matching funds, allowing bond funds to go even further.

“We, right now, if we start a bond program here again, are eligible to make as much as 50% on state matching funds,” he said. “Now, those are long lines, and us building new items in the next coming years means that we’re forward in that line than other districts to the north and the south.”