San Luis Coastal has a $349 million school bond on the ballot. Read our recommendation

File this under sad-but-true: The state of California allows schools to fall apart.

We’re talking leaky roofs, dry rot, peeling paint, rutted sports fields, bad plumbing, portable classrooms that should have been replaced long ago and, most concerning of all, a lack of safety measures that makes it too easy for intruders to gain access to campuses and classrooms.

Statewide, an estimated 38% of students attend schools that don’t even meet minimum facility standards, according to a 2020 report from the Public Policy Institute of California.

Given the huge backlog of needs — and the limited amount of state funds set aside for renovations — communities are largely on their own when it comes to funding repairs and modernization.

At one time or another, practically every public school district in San Luis Obispo County has asked voters to raise taxes to cover school construction or renovation costs.

This election, the San Luis Coastal Unified School District has Measure C-22 — a $349 million bond — on the ballot. That’s not to be confused with Measure D, the $177 million bond voters approved in 2014. That primarily went toward improvements at San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay high schools.

Now, the district needs to focus on its middle and elementary schools. Pacific Beach, a small, alternative high school, also is overdue for a facelift.

Not only are major repairs needed at the schools, there are portables that need replacing. Also, additional classrooms are needed to accommodate the new, transitional kindergarten program approved by the governor in 2021. The goal is to offer a pre-K program to all 4-year-olds by 2025.

The bond also will finance up-to-date security features, including classroom doors that can be locked from the inside, perimeter fencing at every campus and additional security cameras. Also, air conditioning will be installed in every classroom.

Another thing: The bond will improve the district’s chance of qualifying for state grants as they become available, as those generally require matching funds.

The new bond will cost property owners $49 per $100,000 of assessed value. For a house valued at $500,000, that works out to $245 per year, or around $20 per month.

As more homes are built and property values rise, the cost of the measure will decrease. Measure D, for example, initially cost property owners $49 per month, but that’s dropped to $39 per month over eight years.

If the measure passes, district officials don’t anticipate a need to place another bond on the ballot for the foreseeable future.

Still, we won’t minimize the cost of Measure C, especially since homeowners already are paying for Measure D. Together, that adds up to $440 per year for that home valued at $500,000 — or twice that for a home valued at $1 million, as many new homes are.

With so many other costs going up — gasoline, groceries, interest rates — this may seem like a piling on, particularly for new home buyers already hit with inflated housing prices. And due to Proposition 13, their property taxes may already be much higher than neighbors with comparable homes.

But this is absolutely necessary.

First and foremost, our schools must be as safe as possible; we cannot risk losing a child because there’s no money to install effective security measures.

Nor can we force children to spend hours in sweltering classrooms, especially since climate change is expected to make heat waves even more frequent. Do we really expect students to learn under those conditions? Of course not.

And what about teachers? On top of other challenges, should they have to work in aging buildings with poor ventilation, bad plumbing and outdated security?

Keep in mind, there is no Plan B.

If this measure fails, the district will have no choice but to limp along with Band-aid repairs. Meanwhile, already high costs will continue to escalate.

For example, the bill for reroofing Los Osos Middle School has been estimated at $5.5 million. Can you imagine what it will be four or five years from now?

There is never a good time to raise taxes, but putting off necessary repairs and renovations not only risks health and safety, it also is bad for student and teacher morale.

The goal isn’t to transform schools into Taj Mahals — far from it — but rather to provide warm, welcoming, safe havens for students — including children as young as 4.

The Tribune strongly urges voters in the San Luis Coastal Unified School District to vote yes on Measure C-22.

This story was originally published September 27, 2022 at 5:30 AM.