August
23, 2014
Orange
County Breeze
There is one thing I fully
agree with the Cypress School District Administration on and that’s “Let’s
remain focused and keep to the facts.”
The District implies that I am
the chief critic of the bonds sold but they don’t mention the OC Grand Jury’s
June 25, 2014 report that is very critical of the bonds sold. The District
doesn’t reference what California State Treasurer Bill Lockyer said about the
types of bonds school districts have sold. In 2013, State Treasurer Bill
Lockyer made the following statements about the bonds: “The people running
school districts are educators and not generally finance experts,” Lockyer
said. “I don’t think they knew what they were getting themselves into.” “It’s
another method of pushing debt to future generations,” said State Treasurer
Bill Lockyer.
The District says ‘nothing
could be further from the truth” as it pertains to their trying to circumvent
Measure D. The fact is the District sued the City of Cypress in Superior Court
arguing Measure D doesn’t apply to them. The District finally settled with the
City and agreed to take the matter to the voters with the City Council agreeing
to help them with the process. The OC Superior Court case number is 30- 2011-
00522871.
The recommendation to consider
unifying with other districts is in the June 25, 2014 OC Grand Jury’s report
titled “School Districts Dire Financial Condition”. The Grand Jury recommends
that the OC Department of Education conduct a comprehensive study to determine
if the unification of non-unified high school districts with respective
elementary school districts would result in cost savings. The report also
states “The Grand Jury understands the conflict of interest for school boards
and superintendents to inform the public of the potential financial benefits to
unification. For administrators and trustees, unification would likely do away
with their positions and status.”
Whether Cypress merges with
Savannah, Magnolia, and Centralia Elementary Districts or if a different merger
configuration is achieved, millions of dollars could be saved in administrative
costs since many District positions would be duplicative. The Cypress School
District has reported that salaries and benefits of the staff working in the
District Office exceed $2.6 million annually. If the other 3 Districts have
similar District administration costs, as much as $6 to $7 million could be
saved annually and invested directly into our children’s education. Since only
one District office would be needed, the other three District office sites
could be sold with the proceeds being used to help pay down the debt of the
merged Districts. In Orange County, there are 12 Unified School Districts and
only 3 Non-Unified School Districts.
The District has stated that
there is a mechanism to start paying the bonds off in 2021. The District should
inform the public what the savings could be if the bonds were paid back at the
earliest possible date. Of the $41 million in bonds, one of the bonds is $20
million and will cost taxpayers $170 million to repay by the time it matures in
2050. It would make sense that millions could be saved if an early payback of
the bonds started 29 years before maturity. Developing the Mackay and Dickerson
school sites is a good idea, however, the property should be sold rather than
exchanged for revenue generating property. A sale could generate as much $30
million for the purposes of debt retirement.
Any consideration of the
District Office site development should minimally be delayed until a full
assessment is made related to the pros and cons of unification. A new office
building may not be needed which is what the District is proposing to exchange
the existing site for. Besides, if renovated 50 year old buildings are good
enough for our children and teachers, why wouldn’t a renovated 50 year old
District Office be sufficient for the administration?
The article above was submitted
by Cypress resident George Pardon.
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