The Anaheim Union High School District (AUHSD) Board of Trustees voted to place a $398 million bond on the March 3, 2020 election ballot to improve school safety and security, repairs and maintenance of buildings, and retain and attract high quality teachers across the District.
According to Dr. Jennifer Root, AUHSD Assistant Superintendent, Business, “While there have been amazing and innovative facilities projects at many school sites, when Anaheim Union High School District completes the spending of the $249 million Measure H bond, there will be an estimated $1 billion left in facility needs and over $100 million in outstanding maintenance needs.”
Anaheim Union High School District students, parents, staff and community members have also voiced these needs. To assess the climate of the AUHSD community, AUHSD Business Services Division planned a Community Colloquium held on Saturday, August 17 at the Anaheim Convention Center. There were over 320 participants at the event, including students, parents, staff and community members from across the District. In addition, schools held Facility Learning Walks and invited students, parents, staff and community members to reflect on how facilities support students. At the Colloquium, participants were asked to reflect and respond to the following questions:
1. What facilities challenges are raised by the District’s educational goals?
2. What are the important considerations to think about with a new bond measure?
AUHSD graduate Alan Walker had a front row seat during the Measure H campaign, helping to ensure its success. Following the measure’s passage, Walker became a founding member of the Measure H Citizens Oversight Committee, which is charged with ensuring bond dollars are used in accordance with the taxpayer-approved purposes.
“Taxpayers can rest easy,” says Walker, a retired fireman and Western High School graduate, whose three children graduated from Savanna High School.
“I am continually impressed with the caliber of leadership that Ms. Patricia Neely has demonstrated as she directs the building projects under Measure H,” Walker said. “Ms. Neely is fearless in protecting the taxpayers’ investment and ensuring the community is kept informed about the progress of the building projects. As someone who is deeply invested in the AUHSD community, I can say that, with Ms. Neely and her team, the bond measure is in very good hands.”
The confidence in fiscal responsibility has been confirmed by a recent press release from Moody’s Investors Service who has upgraded AUHSD’s outstanding general obligation bond rating to Aa2 from Aa3. According to the press release, the upgrade reflects an “improvement in the district’s financial position over the last four years, resulting from increased revenues under the Local Control Funding Formula, which is favorable to the district, and implementation of cost cutting measure.”
AUHSD’s Board of Trustees President, Brian O’Neal, responded to this news by stating, “I am very proud of the work the district has done to bring so many projects in on time and under budget; consequently, we have been rewarded with a higher bond rating.”
Moreover, Mr. O’Neal continued with, “To further leverage our bond funds we have applied for over 45 million dollars in state matching bond money and have received almost seven million dollars in grants. The Board is very pleased with all the successful projects our district has accomplished.”
Oscar Reyes, a lifetime community stakeholder and in attendance at the Community Colloquium believes the bond will be “a game changer for our community.” Mr. Reyes understands the value an approved bond would bring to the community based on his experience in Anaheim: “As a student and graduate of Anaheim High School I remember being instilled with pride, knowing my school was getting upgraded back in 2009. This raised student morale and motivated us to achieve more.”
In addition, he understands the profound implications to the future of the community: “As a local 4th grade dual language teacher for the Anaheim Elementary School District, I would like to see my students get to experience this powerful shift in matching their world class education with world class facilities.”
The approval of the bond would help improve school safety, along with improving student learning and staff working environment, replace deteriorating sewer and gas lines, repair leaky roofs, improve drinking water safety, and help retain and attract quality teachers.
