Stop it Now wrote on Jul 24, 2008 11:59 PM:This is ridiculous! To even be considering this is absurd. The school board should immediately put an end to their madness and stop wasting our money on these endless consultants.

No New Taxes!

Peter wrote on Jul 25, 2008 12:01 AM:Even if the High School District is overcrowded, there is no indication that it will be in two, five, or ten years down the road. The district is experiencing declining enrollment. Therefore, there is reaqlly no need for such a bond measure. The needs of the schools can be easily handled through regular channels.

wrote on Jul 25, 2008 12:03 AM:These idiots want us to be paying for a bond for the next 50 year? they must be stupid. Or think that we are.

NO WAY

Buncha questions wrote on Jul 25, 2008 12:10 AM:Before we get all set to vote for this new bond, the high school district needs to answer some basic questions:
1. Why did they not plan for these needs with their funding from the State over the past several years, as they are supposed to?
2. Where will the students for these new classrooms come from?
3. Where will they get the funding to put teachers in these new classrooms?
4. Why do they have the highest paid administrators in all of San Diego County?
5. How many years will it be before they are coming to us with another bond because they didn't plan adequately on this one?
6. Why are we shutting a school down right now (Centre City High School) if we are in such desperate need of a new school?
7. How much money (staff time included) has been spent (=wasted) on studying different potential school sites?
8. Do you really believe that your consultant on this bond would walk into a meeting and say, "Sorry guys, the community really isn't ready to back you on another bond issue."

Reality, guys. This bond will not go. There are lots of us who support education, who support Escondido, but do not support this BECAUSE this does not make sense!

troubling math wrote on Jul 25, 2008 12:16 AM:Floating this bond will cost the district about a hundred thousand dollars, win or lose.

It takes 55% of the vote to win.

The bond consultant says that 57% of likely voters will vote for the bond, and that means "it stands a 'reasonable chance to succeed.'"

It sounds like it also stands a 'reasonable chance' to lose the district about a hundred thousand dollars.

Would these supposedly "responsible" trustees take that chance with their own money?

Ridiculous wrote on Jul 25, 2008 12:25 AM:No new taxes!

Didnt Dont Wont wrote on Jul 25, 2008 12:33 AM:Didn't support the last bond 10 years ago.

Don't support this bond this year.

Won't support the next bond ten years from now.

High School District just needs to learn to live on a budget like the rest of us.

Childrens Debt wrote on Jul 25, 2008 12:41 AM:The most disturbing problem with this school bond is the fact that it is being dragged out until the year 2056, nearly 50 years from now. Sure, I won't be in my home then, and I won't be responsible for the debt I am voting in. Our children will be.

How irresponsible for us to be voting in something that we are unwilling to pay for in our own lifetimes. Shame on the Escondido Union High School District Board of Trustees for even considering such a horrid scheme.

Earth to Nelson wrote on Jul 25, 2008 3:11 AM:Over my dead body! This taxpayer is beyond the breaking point. NO! NO! NO!

ObsERVER wrote on Jul 25, 2008 4:54 AM:Maybe that 57% tenuous support group would feel differently if they knew we already pay for 30 years the bond to build the big, beautiful Valley Center High School that none of our kids can attend. Maybe this bond should be paid for by Valley Center residents so our kids can get nice things too.
Learn the REAL history before voting. Please just vote NO.

Tax Payer wrote on Jul 25, 2008 5:25 AM:These people want to update these schools so we can educate our children to not know fiscal responsibility, like them.

We can also teach them that it's okay to break the laws of this nation, as long as you can get enough people doing it at the same time.

I'm sure they'll also learn that when you allow people to break a law, they will figure it's okay to break other laws as well.

Can't they just learn by our fine leaders example and save us a bunch of money?

We as parents can help!

Look Johnny, there's the mayor, or president, or governor... Listen to what they say and you'll see that it's okay to lie to people!

Tricky Wording wrote on Jul 25, 2008 6:24 AM:The EUHSD Board needs to rethink the financing strategy. The bond is worded to cause taxpayers to think that their taxes will not increase. The measure ends with "while maintaining the current tax rate limits". The bond wording is available at: www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/07/21/news/inland/escondido/z3f86c75348e20cb48825748d00717492.txt

onthecoast wrote on Jul 25, 2008 7:10 AM:The current bond is being paid by Valley Center and Escondido residents. The bond did not just build Valley Center High School, money was used to upgrade the high schools in Escondido. So while Escondido residents are paying for Valley Center High School, Valley Center residents are paying for improvements to the Escondido High Schools.

Escondido Resident wrote on Jul 25, 2008 7:14 AM:Homeowners, We need to organize now. Tell your friends to call or e-mail the District offices and tell the Board members we don't want any more money spent on this waste of money.

No more money on consultants, full color mailers, or campaigning for this bond. We can't saddle ourselves, our children or our grandchildren with so much debt!

More money for ilegals wrote on Jul 25, 2008 7:16 AM:this is all about giving more money to educate kids of people who are here illeagally from Mexico. Why should we pay to teach their children? I wont pay another penny to teach their children.

Not A Cap wrote on Jul 25, 2008 7:22 AM:The tax rate of $18.50 is not a cap. It is an estimate from 1996. Taxpayer exposure is virtually unlimited, if needed, to pay back the bonds. There is no guaranteed rate!

Flakely Finance Plan wrote on Jul 25, 2008 7:24 AM:Borrowing $98 million at 4% over 30 years would require payments of $5.7 million per year to pay back the loan using normal amortization. The assessed value of properties in the EUHSD is $14.7 billion. That works out to a tax rate of $38.78 per $100,000 of assessed value. The details of the proposed 48 year finance plan must be looked at very carefully.

To On the Coast wrote on Jul 25, 2008 7:27 AM:Yes, Escondido schools got some nice new grass, upgraded buildings, and a few computers, while Valley Center got a brand new, State of the Art facility with touch screen computers, full science labs, and the types of sports facilites that Escondido kids only see on the Disney channel. Then they lkeft the District, and all we see of them is the tax bill.

That's about how it will be with the new 800 student Magnet school. A few privileged students will get to attend, and the rest of us will get to watch our money pay for another private school paid for with public funds.

Chicken wrote on Jul 25, 2008 7:35 AM:I agree with Children's Debt. Voting to taqke on this debt this debt would be my choice. Voting to take on a debt for my son and daughter would be both cowardly and unthinkable.

School Teacher wrote on Jul 25, 2008 7:39 AM:With the current budget mess in Sacramento, we must really beg the voters of Escondido to pass this measure. Our classes are far too large, and if our campuses are not updated, our regular operating budget will need to be used for these vital upgrades.

Please pass the bond!!!

. per wrote on Jul 25, 2008 8:15 AM:Where do these figures come from, and why weren't they presented by the EUHSD board? And why do I trust someone blogging on the NC Times comment board more than I trust elected officials? But I do!! That's a problem.

food for thought wrote on Jul 25, 2008 9:40 AM:Bloggers on the NCT boards tend to rail against Escondido for crime, vandalism, illegals, etc. On the other hand residents of places like Poway and Rancho Bernardo do not seem discontent with their towns. Maybe it is because the people in those cities have the foresight to spend a lot of property tax money on their schools, thereby attracting a higher income class of residents, which reduces the crime rate. 18.50 per 100k property value to make local schools nicer doesn't seem very expensive to me - so long as there is visible public oversight into the spending of the funds.

QT wrote on Jul 25, 2008 9:41 AM:Many of the students are not legal residents. Throw them out and there will not be overcrowding. No more free rides, no more free lunch.

Solution Guy wrote on Jul 25, 2008 10:28 AM:Send the bill to Mexico

School Teacher wrote on Jul 25, 2008 10:57 AM:I would vote for a bond in a second, IF you did not require me to educate illegal aliens and support their mindless reproduction. NO NO NO

Finish the sentence wrote on Jul 25, 2008 12:17 PM:"while maintaining the current tax rate limits... FOR ANOTHER 30-35 YEARS." The bond consultants convienently left that out of the carefully worded ballot measure they presented to the school board last night. They also didn't include it in the telephone survey they took last week, or on any of the expensive mailers that have gone out. Could it be that calling attention to this might result in a resounding "NO" from the Esco taxpayers? BTW, the results of the 2,000 residents polled,
57% said they would vote in favor of the bond, 27% said no, and 15% were undecided. The bond consultants did not say whether those polled were property owners or even registered voters.

Also, read the highlighted box in the NCT article. Music and performing arts building? Multi-use PE and dance facility? Graphic arts classroom? Classrooms for adult education? Plus a "magnet" school? This school district has a dropout rate of 17% and many of the continuing students can't even pass math and english classes. Who does the school board think they are dealing with here? They must think we can't read or do math either. VOTE NO!

Until to wrote on Jul 25, 2008 2:59 PM:The end of the ballot measure should read, 'while hoping to maintain the current annual tax rate estimate of $18.50 per $100,000 of assessed property value until about 2056.' Any else is deceptive!

QT wrote on Jul 25, 2008 3:36 PM:Hey school teacher,
I teach too and I understand your frustration. How about these ideas: #1 no homework= no free lunch
#2 no legal parental status no welfare for the kids. Each kid brings in $600 month with food stamps. Some of these parents have more money than I do!
#3 Illegal gang members are deported to someplace really awful like Antartica. Last year I was attacked by one while I was trying to teach him math.
#4 Not a resident no college admission.

Take away all of the freebees that illegal low class immigrants want and and watch the schools turn around. Immigrants that are legal...I welcome you. BTW is the district actually admitting there might be something wrong with those mold invested, roof leaking portables? Talk about a 180 they have told us teachers for years that our work environment is just fine.

I will Not Support the Bond wrote on Jul 25, 2008 4:05 PM:The schools are overcrowded and Escondido High is crowded to the point of being "impacted". Yet the Escondido City Council turns a blind eye every time someone goes to a Planning Commission or City Council meeting concerning a new development and broaches the subject. I was even told by Dick Daniels personally that "schools are not within the purview of the City Council". No wonder the schools are in trouble. I will never support a bond until the council reigns in new development.

Bill in Escondido wrote on Jul 25, 2008 5:06 PM:The school district is now estimating the total for the new school and modernization of classrooms is 153 Million Dollars! That's almost 50% more than at the beginning of the year. At that time, they needed $108 million, would get 10 million from "matching funds", and came up with a 98 million dollar bond. Now that the total is 153 million, they are saying 8.4 million will come from matching funds, 98 million from a bond, and supposedly 46.6 million from the city in "redevelopment funds". They "believe" these will be available (Ed Nelson's words). All of a sudden, the costs increase and magically there is more money "believed" to be available. The cost of the new school itself has increased from 37.3 Million to 68 million. I'm sorry, I find it hard to believe the school board and anything they tell us.

All good points... wrote on Jul 25, 2008 6:22 PM:lets keep Escondido a crappy place...that way all these whiners that complain about everything that is done or is attempted to be done for the improvement of Escondido can make themselves feel better about the bitter, pitiful lives

To All Good Points wrote on Jul 25, 2008 7:27 PM:It's not that we don't want to make Escondido a better place to live. We have supported every bond which has come up for the past 15 years. But this bond has no merit!

Enough is enough! This bond will do nothing to improve the city or our way of life.

Clarification needed wrote on Jul 25, 2008 7:30 PM:The first thing we need are the real numbers. Is it a guaranteed cap of $18.50 per $100,000 of assessed valuation, or couuld it go up as high as $40.00 per $100,000 of value, as people are claiming.

This seems like a simple claim for the North County Times to investigate and clarify.

No raises for teachers wrote on Jul 25, 2008 7:33 PM:Before anyone tells me that this bond is for new facilities, let me tell you, "you are wrong!" The school district gets funding from the State each year for its expenses, including maintenance, facilities upgrades and personnel salaries.

If we give them additional, separate moneys for facilities, they then have more money to dedicate to personnel salaries. This is why we have the highest administrator salaries in Southern California!

Vote No!

Make up your mind wrote on Jul 25, 2008 11:41 PM:Every time I read about the Escondido school bond measure the "proposed projects" list changes. The issue I have with this board is that they cannot commit to a plan then execute it. All I've heard them say is that they want to "create converstion". Until this board presents a solid plan for this bond will a person be able to make an educated decision on how to cast a vote. But the reality is that, based on the board's past history, I highly doubt we will see one. So for those of you who feel the same, please get to the polls this fall and cast your vote for at least one measure. NO ESCONDIDO SCHOOL BOND!

Just do the math wrote on Jul 26, 2008 12:25 PM:In 1996, voters passed a 43 million dollar bond to be paid off in 25 years. That works out to 1.72 million per year. A 98 million dollar bond - proposed to be at the same rate - will take 57 years to pay off. Add 57 years to the current bond, and it's paid off in 2078! 70 years from now! That puts the debt on me, my children, my grandchildren and even my GREAT grandchildren!

To Just do the math wrote on Jul 26, 2008 2:48 PM:Unless, as everyone suspects, the payments on this bond are going to be substantially higher than the EUHSD board is admitting. It appears that to keep the payments to their projected 48 year repayment schedule, the actual assessment could be as high as $46.72 per $100,000 of home vallue.

That would be as high as the hospital bond or the police/fire bond! We need some straight talk about what these people are really doing, and we need it fast. They are out of line with this proposal.

Escondido Resident wrote on Jul 26, 2008 2:51 PM:The 2,100 people that the bond consultants surveyed were probably asked very leading questions that elicited the positive responses they wanted. I haven't found anyone supporting the bond, but know a lot of people against it.

Unification wrote on Jul 26, 2008 3:05 PM:let's save money unificating the two districts, why pay double salaries and mantaint double the number of logistict instalations. just imagine saving the salary of one superintendent and several high pay jobs in both districts.

To Escondido Resident wrote on Jul 26, 2008 3:23 PM:Yes, those of us who got a call were read a 75 word ballot measure proposal, then asked if "you were to vote today, would you vote yes or no". The same paragraph was part of the presentation that was given at the meeting Thursday night. Bonnie Moss, who gave the presentation stated that "every word was very carefully chosen" when the survey was done. The same will go when it appears on the ballot. They intentionally did not include a statement that the current bond that we are paying for will be extende for 30-35 years. This is deceptive.

More Math wrote on Jul 26, 2008 7:09 PM:The financial plan will be HIGHLY dependent on future increases in property values. If property values stagnate, then the tax rate will SOAR!!

Why so much wrote on Jul 26, 2008 8:19 PM:The beautiful new Valley High School campus was built, equipped and furnished just a few years ago for just 11 million dollars. It serves 500 students, has state of the art teaching facilities, computer labs, science labs, shop facilities, libararies, a full sized gymnasium, full kitchen/cafeteria, and technology of every kind.

Why on earth would it cost 68 million dollars to build a school for 800 students? I understand inflation, but something is seriously wrong in this estimate!

Big Question wrote on Jul 26, 2008 8:53 PM:So, this article and all the accompanying comments were removed from the North County Times web site for several hours last night and this morning. After substantial public outcry, comment and complaint, it was re-posted.

My questions are:
1) What caused the North County Times to remove the article in the first place?
2) How did you decide to restore it to the website?
3) Will you be doing follow up on the major discrepancies between the information presented by the high school district and the information presented in this forum, much of which seems to be mathematically very valid.

NO wrote on Jul 26, 2008 9:20 PM:" why are we spending precious schooldollars on providing "luxury" educations for ordinary students??? We NEED that money for setting up and running the Gifted Child program at our schools. You see, while most area children are just average; some kids are truly gifted such as my two angels. They NEED that gifted child program to rise above the rabble and compete with the other gifted children from better parts of California society (where we used to live).

Look, the kids around here are average and might be nurses or accountants some day. Very necessary professions but are they as important as nurturing genius?. Truly gifted child programs such as mine need special programs in order to shine! So why fund music or, even worse, sports. Those topics are useless to the future of local kids.

Bond for High School Only wrote on Jul 27, 2008 10:04 AM:This bond increase is for high school only. What about what we're paying in elementary/middle school bonds? Combine the two and I bet we're paying close to what Poway/Rancho Bernardo are paying. How about concentrating on getting the students to pass the exit exam and decrease the dropout rate before building more and more? Hold your horses EUHSD, wait it out for a year or two. San Marcos Unified seems to have board members and a superintendent with brains and common sense.

Big Question - adding on wrote on Jul 27, 2008 11:35 AM:While the story has been restored to the web site, it is NOT listed under previous headlines as it had been before. The only way to get to this is if you already have the link.

I agree - I think it would be a great story to publish. A little investigative work would indeed show a large gap between their dreams and reality.

Special School Board Meeting wrote on Jul 27, 2008 11:46 AM:The Escondido Union High School District will have an informational meeting regarding the district's plan to build a new small high school. They would like to hear concerns and answer questions from the local community.

The meeting will be held Wednesday, July 30th from 6pm to 8pm in the board room at the Escondido Union High School District office at 302 North Midway Drive in Escondido.

Declining Enrollments wrote on Jul 27, 2008 3:25 PM:With declining enrollments in our near future why should we support such a Bond? Board of Trustees, PLEASE put this on the back burner. Now is NOT the time for a Bond. Escondido property owners are on bond overload (police/fire departments, hospital, previous school bonds we'll pay until 2021). We're in an economy crisis, more foreclosures in our city than ever before. What are you thinking?? NO ON THE BOND!!

Also, the meeting on July 30th isn't a special board meeting, just a community forum. Get the facts right!

Make up your mind wrote on Jul 27, 2008 10:40 PM:Ahhh...another meeting...more conversation...I thought we'd been there, done that. The bond measure should already be well on it's way to being written and finalized for the August board meeting. And should the board decide to go ahead with the measure, how long is it going to take until we see the "real" words? That only gives them three months to do some heavy selling...or deceptive marketing.

They spent time and money to get the elementary school district community to unify with them, even after there was a lot of "conversation", as it was not in the elementary school district's best interest for unification. And now it's more time and money being spent on a bond that's going to cost a lot more going out than coming in. When is this board going to get it?

The board needs to be held accountable for what we have already given the high school district in bond money. I say they start to learn to work within their means. If they put a bond measure on the November ballot, it's a NO from me.

Pass it on wrote on Jul 27, 2008 10:56 PM:A community forum? When was this scheduled? I'm a high school parent with lots of contacts and this is the first I've heard of it. No mention of it on any of the school or district websites. The prior article (7/21)indicated a public forum at 6pm, but there was no date listed. Guess I'll have to send this article to everyone I know.

To NO on at pm wrote on Jul 27, 2008 11:17 PM:So, NO, what are your two gifted children going to be when they grow up? Two geniuses who have no social or cultural skills? Music and art provide cultural context, sports provide sportsmanship and social interaction, with both providing critical thinking skills. MY two gifted children excel not only academically, but in the arts and in several sports as well. A least my two gifted children will be well-rounded young adults when I send them off to a four-year university. If this town isn't good enough for your two gifted children, then perhaps you should return to, as you said, the "better parts of California society (where you used to live)".