With this voting cycle, residents of South Lake Tahoe have the opportunity to secure sorely needed funding for infrastructure repair and decades-overdue updates to all Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD) school sites. We need to Vote Yes to Support Measure U.
Among the major concerns requiring overhaul at our schools:
– District-wide roof collapses and annual leaking issues
– Classroom closures which result in the disruption of education
– Unreliable heating and air systems, many that operate without clean/fresh air exchange
– Decades-old carpeting in classrooms
– Removal of portable buildings, to be replaced with new builds and interior reconfigurations
– Failing pavement in parking lots and playgrounds
– Outdated classrooms, seating, technology, and other educational preparedness needs
Every aspect of public education is funded by taxes, making it a misnomer to refer to public education as “free”. A school district’s budget is derived from a variety of funding sources, sources that cannot cross purposes to satisfy other needs or goals. Funding to cover teacher, curriculum, and administrative costs is derived from attendance counts, demographic and
need-based data, and achievement data. The budget given to school districts in California requires each to maintain 3% of its total budget for repairs and maintenance. Those annual maintenance funds are not intended nor are they adequate for undertaking major overhauls, construction needs, wholesale facility upgrades, and updates to classroom and technology infrastructure.
– Measure U funds can be used ONLY for infrastructure repairs and upgrades in our District’s facilities.
– None of the funds can be used for salaries – administrative or educator.
– Bond funding will be overseen by a community-based oversight committee.
– For decades our infrastructure has been more or less “band-aided” with the funds granted annually by the State.
– Previous school bonds were secured and used for specific purposes, the work completed years ago and the bonds being paid down over the life of the bond.
– Measure U represents $35/year per $100,000 of assessed value to owned property.
– Measure U is an investment in our community — our students, their educators, and the community at large.
We all benefit if the school sites are up-to-date, safe, and uninterrupted by further closed buildings and poor ventilation, plumbing, and heating issues. Today’s students represent our future firefighters and law enforcement officers, doctors, teachers, plumbers, electricians, contractors, pilots, engineers, entertainers, and the customer service community.
Please support our future — make it possible for our school sites to be brought up to code, up to date, and into the current era of education. It’s the right thing to do for all of us.
Join us in Voting Yes on Measure U
Respectfully,
Cristi Creegan and Ruth Rich, moms