Lynwood to seek $80 million bond to upgrade campuses

Abbott Elementary School receives roofing upgrades on buildings L and F during the summer months.

LYNWOOD — The Lynwood Unified School District Board of Education during its July 18 special board meeting unanimously voted to pass a resolution that authorizes the Los Angeles County Registrar to place an $80 million facilities bond measure on the Nov. 5 general election ballot.

The bond measure would provide funding to further upgrade Lynwood Unified facilities, make structural repairs, remove hazardous materials, upgrade safety codes and security systems, and reduce reliance on portable classrooms, allowing the District to better support student achievement and college and career readiness in science, technology, engineering and math fields and skilled trades.

If the state's Proposition 2 bond measure, also on the November ballot, is approved, the District could potentially receive matching state funds, totaling $200 million.

The bond measure comes as the District is finishing up more than $160 million in facilities repair projects emanating from two prior voter-approved initiatives, Measure K (passed in 2012) and Measure N (passed in 2016). The District is also currently overseeing the renovation of the original Lynwood High School campus, which is being funded in large part with a $250 million grant from the state.

The proposed repairs were deemed necessary by the Board to address the wealth of aging structures throughout the District, many of which were built in the 1960s or earlier and have not been upgraded in more than 20 years. The District has identified more than 130 classrooms with leaky roofs, and many older schools do not meet current health codes or provide full access to students with disabilities.

The resolution passed by the Board specifically authorizes the District to provide modern labs and career training facilities; remove hazardous materials like asbestos and lead pipes from older school sites; upgrade older schools to meet current health codes; repair or replace deteriorating roofs, plumbing, gas and sewer lines, and electrical systems; and upgrade student safety and campus security systems, including fencing, emergency communications systems, fire alarms, and sprinklers.

If passed, the bond measure will cost an average of $149 annually for a single-family residence, based on an annual tax rate of $50 per $100,000 of property assessed valuation.

“The Lynwood community has been well served by the success of our prior bond measures, K and N, which have been responsible for dozens of major structural repairs, but there is still much work to be done if we want to provide the highest-quality education possible in modern, state-of-the-art classrooms and facilities,” Superintendent Gudiel R. Crosthwaite, Ph.D., said. “Thank you to the Board of Education for recognizing the need for continued repairs by authorizing this resolution.”