I'm a product of Downey Unified: Yes on Measure K

I feel kind of funny talking about Measure K.

I’m not a homeowner. I don’t have a child in the Downey Unified School District. You could argue that I really don’t have much stake in the matter.

What I can say I have is a quality education, which prepared me to go on to college and eventually enter into my career. I received that education through DUSD.

My editor Eric Pierce has already written about the benefits he sees in Measure K, primarily in the current needs of the outdated elementary school campuses and its effect on property values.

I see it from a different perspective.

As a student, I was a career DUSD-er; I started my primary schooling at Maude Price Elementary School, moved on to Griffiths Middle School, and eventually graduated from Warren High School as part of the class of 2010.

Throughout that time, I had classes in everything from school bungalows to traditional classrooms.

Around my freshman or sophomore year of high school (it’s been over 10 years so forgive me that my timeline is a little hazy), I watched as my school’s campus became a warzone of earth movers, heavy machinery, fencing, dust, dirt, and concrete. What arose would eventually become the new library, cafeteria, and Donald E. La Plante Hall, along with a few other buildings and facilities; several of my classes would move into the new classrooms over time.

I remember being taken aback by how shiny and pretty everything looked, being impressed by the new technology and tools my teachers, fellow students and I now had at our disposal.

My education – already quality due to my excellent teachers – became that much more enriching.

Funnily enough, I now find myself a little jealous every time I drive past Doty Middle School, thinking about how my niece is currently reaping the benefits of its recent upgrades. I hope my nephew – who just started kindergarten – doesn’t have to wait until middle school to experience the same.

Downey Unified has this saying, that “our students deserve the best.”

But to give them the best, we as voters need to act now; timing is critical.

I won’t sugar coat it; with homeowners still paying off previous bonds and talks of inflation and recession, it is an abysmal time to think about the added cost a $504 million bond would bring.

But to wait means our elementary students won’t receive all they could if we act now. Every time the District has talked about Measure K, the message has been clear: with rising construction costs, Downey Unified gets less bang for its buck the longer it waits.

Again, I’m not a homeowner. I don’t have a child in the school district.

But I am a product of Downey schools, who has seen and experienced first hand the benefits of updated and upgraded facilities, technologies, and resources.

It does matter. It does make a difference.

And the time is now.