What: The Measure O Bond Oversight Committee Meeting
When: Wednesday, May 29, 2019 at 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Where: Conference Room 3,
RUSD District Offices
2280 14th Street, Riverside,CA 92501
(corner of 14th Street and Lime, across from Jack in the Box, close to the 91 freeway).
Why: Because some members of the Oversight Committee think the proposed UCR STEM High School cannot be lawfully built using Measure O funds.
The whole Committee needs to hear the views of other concerned members of the public, and why they think the Measure O money needs to be used to improve existing schools city-wide. Thats us.
Come prepared to speak up and tell the Oversight Committee why you think use of Measure O money for a STEM high school on the UCR campus violates Measure O!
Need some talking points? Read on!
Please let all your friends who care about education in Riverside know about this meeting and encourage them to try to attend.
Talking Points About Measure O
Measure O does not allow the bond money to be used to build new schools.
According to the impartial analysis provided to voters by the County’s attorneys, bond money:
“may be used by the District to repair and upgrade District schools by upgrading or replacing aging school infrastructure, classrooms and buildings, modernize school facilities with 21st century technology, improve access for students with disabilities, provide classroom and labs for career and technical education classes.”
“The Bonds may be used to improve school safety by modernizing security systems, retrofitting buildings to be earthquake proof, and upgrading emergency communications.”
“The Bonds may also be used to Districtwide technology improvements for updated instruction technology in classrooms and labs and upgraded computer systems.” (See Measure O | Voter’s Edge California)
It is the Oversight Committee’s duty to make sure the Measure O money is properly spent.
Voters were told that an oversight committee would make sure that bond funds would be spent “only on the construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, or replacement of school facilities, including the furnishing and equipping of school facilities, or the acquisition or lease of real property for school facilities, and for no other purposes.” (See https://votersedge.org/en/ca/ballot/election/area/42/measures/measure/2779?election_authority_id=33)
The purpose of Measure O was to make useful improvements to existing and aging infrastructure, to spend it on projects that would benefit all students district-wide, not to invest in new buildings for a few.
This article explains
Bill Latham
Microenvironment renovations offer schools a relatively inexpensive way to align facilities to teaching and lear…
Measure O | Voter’s Edge California
Maplight & LWVCEF, http://maplight.org & https://cavotes.org/
Guide to measures in the Riverside Unified School District on the November 8, 2016 ballot.