by Garth Meyer
A $278 million local school bond will go before voters in November. The Redondo Unified School District board voted 4-0 at its July 15 meeting to move ahead after months of study. Boardmember Rolf Strutzenberg was absent the night of the vote.
Six special board meetings were held on the subject, and “over 20 hours as a board getting to this point,” said Boardmember Dan Elder.
“We don’t have a funding source otherwise for these facilities,” he said.
The bond’s main elements are $60 million to $70 million to replace 23 portable classrooms; replacing the two-room “bingo building” at the high school, in favor of a new building with six new classrooms for Career and Technical Education; $21 million to $22 million for safety and security upgrades including fencing, cameras, new P.A. systems, alarms and controlled-access buzzer systems; $50 million for technology such as cabling, software and increased power supply; $9 million to $10 million for new playground equipment and fall protection mats; $7 million to $8 million for turf replacement; and $115 million for general modernization, from water and sewer systems to windows, roofing and flooring (much of which is eligible for state matching grants).
Cost ranges listed represent estimates from 2025-2029, depending on when the projected work would be done.
Previous RBUSD bonds were passed in 2012 (Measure Q – technology, solar, new classrooms, Chromebooks), and in 2008, when a large bond was approved to build new gyms in the district, and a new administration building.
The 2024 General Obligation Bond would cost individual taxpayers $29 per $100,000 in assessed property value.
Boardmember Elder also noted that a state bond on the November ballot would only be effective in Redondo if RBUSD passes its own. The state money would come from matching funds. ER
