Big School Bonds for Southern California School Districts

Two of Southern California's School Districts, San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) and Los Angeles Unified (LAUSD). Los Angeles is looking to place a $7 billion bond on the fall ballot. San Diego, which is a much smaller school district is looking at a 2.1 billion school bond in November as well.

LAUSD: Ginormous Bond = Small Schools

The LA Daily news reported that LAUSD is expected to campaign on a plan to build small schools of 500 students or less. The ongoing renovations at LAUSD is one of the largest public works projects in the nation. One tactic that the LAUSD is doing is having several small schools on larger campuses.

District officials defend their construction program, saying they may be developing large school sites, but they are trying to break them down into several mini-schools on each campus.

Example of Byrd Middle School

Byrd Middle School will open its doors to more than 1,600 sixth-, seventh- and eight-graders in the fall.

The state-of-the-art school boasts a new basketball gym built to high school standards, environmentally conscious architecture that incorporates natural light and technology-driven classrooms.

But, in a nod to the small-schools concept, each grade will be housed in a separate building, with its own assistant principal, attendance clerk and counselor. There are 19 classrooms per building, each built to accommodate up to 40 students.

San Diego Unified's 2.1 Billion Bond
100 miles to the south the San Diego Unified School District is looking at school bond as well. According the the SDUSD's website:

The bond issue is being requested to update school facilities for new technologies, which will improve student learning and instruction. The proposal also includes more than $273 million for upgrades required under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. In addition, funding is allocated for projects that will be decided by each school, with $150 per student set aside for projects selected by the school.

The district has a great interactive map. It shows where the projects are and a listing of the projects.

The district passed the $1.51 billion Proposition MM bond measure in 1998. It has completed most of the work that was scheduled. The when they were researching the initial bond, the district found $4 billion of needed repairs.