The Hermosa Beach School Board, hoping to finally remedy the overcrowding crisis at View and Valley schools, met Wednesday to gather ideas on how North School could be reopened in order to address the overflow.
It was the first step in what will likely be a yearlong effort to pass a bond measure to finance the reopening of North. Of the district’s 1,429 K-8 students at View and Valley, more than a third are taught in temporary classrooms such as trailers, teachers lounges, offices, or theater stages.
The board last year proposed Measure Q, a $54 million school bond that would have reopened North and updated the two other schools. The bond was to be paid off with an increase in property taxes of $29.50 per $100,000 in assessed valuation. It needed 55 percent voter approval but failed by 32 votes in November due to a committed and vocal band of opposition.
There’s little doubt that the school district is bursting at the seams. Parents took turns at the podium to expound on the district’s “huge crisis with space,” drawing anecdotes of kids who are lacking not only classrooms, but also cafeteria space and even toilets.
No consensus has thus far emerged on how to address these problems. The opposition to Measure Q cited concerns with last year’s North school plan that included traffic congestion and the possibility that a portion of Valley Park that abuts North and is owned by the district would be paved over for a school parking lot.
Those concerns were discussed again at Wednesday’s meeting, which brought a crowd of 95 people to City Hall – the highest turnout in years for a school board meeting. The board hopes to better address those concerns this time around.
“We’re trying to get to why there are concerns and how we can mitigate those concerns,” said Alan Rasmussen, the former Hermosa Beach School District superintendent who consults with the district and helped lead the discussion.
Any plan to reopen North would entail major upgrades. The school opened in 1924 to accommodate about 250 students. Last year’s bond measure proposed enrolling 504 students at North.
The bond measure would have provided classrooms for as many as 1,686 students at the three schools. But there were concerns that due to increasing enrollment, by the time construction ended in two to four years, the schools would already be at capacity.
Alternatives have been proposed to reopening North, including converting the Pier Avenue community center back into a school site, as it was before the school district sold the property to the city in 1978.
But School Board President Patti Ackerman said the board’s focus right now is on North, since the school district owns the property. (The school district currently leases North to Children’s Journey and South Bay Adult School). Ackerman also said North has a superior location in a more residential neighborhood that is more easily accessed by walking or biking.
The discussion on Wednesday centered on seven concerns about North that the school board identified as having a negative impact on the bond measure at the polls, including questions about parking, traffic flow, cost, grade level configuration, building design, and what to do with Valley Park. Opposition to Measure Q last year particularly seized on the possibility that a corner of Valley Park could be paved for a parking lot.
“I think the message here was don’t touch the park,” Rasmussen said.
Many attendees expressed their desire for North to have underground parking, a two-plus story structure, green building standards and after-school care for kids. Those ideas were passed on to Pasadena architectural firm gkkworks, which drafted the project’s master plan last year.
Another problem for Measure Q was low voter turnout, with the decision swinging on just dozens of votes. This time around, the board is hoping to raise more awareness and garner more community involvement.
Hermosa Beach last passed a school bond for $13.6 million in 2002 for the construction of new classrooms and a new gymnasium. Since then, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Palos Verdes and El Segundo have all passed school bond measures. Hermosa Beach has by far the lowest school taxes of the Beach Cities, at $17.97 per $100,000 in assessed property valuation. By way of comparison, Redondo Beach property owners pay $92.42 per $100,000, and Manhattan Beach $70.05. Tax rates for Wiseburn School District in Hawthorne — like Hermosa, a K-8 district — are $116.72 per $100,000.
Ackerman said she was encouraged by the high turnout for Wednesday’s meeting. She estimated it was the largest crowd at any meeting in her three year tenure. Opponents and proponents of Measure Q were both present.
The board is also considering a smaller bond measure than last year’s, although no decision has been made. School board member Lisa Claypoole said the board would likely propose the measure before the end of the school year to allow time to gather support before a November vote.
“I’d like to think we could get the whole community behind this,” Ackerman said.
