Lompoc USD shows schools that would be fixed if $65,000,000 bond passes

Outdated portable classrooms, rotting gutters and outdated technology – these are just a few things the Lompoc Unified School District hopes to address if a $65,000,000 bond is voted and passed by tax payers next month.

“You see the loose aggregate and the potholes,” Doug Sorum with Lompoc Unified School District said.

Doug Sorum gave us a tour of the Lompoc Unified School District Tuesday to encourage voters to get out and vote on Measure L – a 65 million dollar bond measure that would be paid for over the next 30 years.

“These are some of our portable structures, most of which were brought in the mid to late 80’s, they were never meant to sit here this long,” Sorum said.

The bond would replace over a hundred of these portable classrooms with permanent buildings and address these rotting gutters throughout campuses.

Sorum says the bond would continue where 2003’s $35,000,000 bond lets off – and not increase taxes.

“Any member of the public can walk right up into the campus without anyone even seeing them walk in,” Sorum said.

The bond would add perimeter fencing and security cameras to address this concern. The bond also addresses heating and air conditioning, new computers, wifi and networking – and it could bring a new football stadium to Cabrillo High School and modernize the current one at Lompoc High, as well as add all weather running tracks.

“We’re ready to hit the ground running right now,” Sorum said.

They’re also looking to install LED lighting to make the schools more energy efficient, fix roofs and widen doors and make playgrounds more accessible for disabled students.

In the 1960’s, a very common building material was asbestos and it’s found in several locations throughout the Unified School District including this cafeteria flooring.

“Would include abatement of the asbestos containing materials,” Sorum said.

The bond would cost property owners roughly 60 dollars a year per $100,000 worth of property they own – or about 240 dollars a year – considering the average home in Lompoc is about $400,000.

“Our schools definitely need some improvement,” parent Becky Morton said.

“A lot of bonds and things like that go towards things that aren’t really worth it,” parent Bailey West said.

“Kids need, you know, better playgrounds, you know, school supplies,” parent Hugo Carmona said.

“Our staff and students and the community, they deserve this,” Sorum said.

The vote needs a 67% majority to pass.

{“height”:270,”width”:480,”thumbnail_url”:”https://i.ytimg.com/vi/9rEeCaXILlM/hqdefault.jpg”,”version”:”1.0″,”title”:”Lompoc USD shows schools that would be fixed if $65,000,000 bond passes”,”author_name”:”Sean Larsen”,”provider_url”:”https://www.youtube.com/”,”thumbnail_width”:480,”provider_name”:”YouTube”,”type”:”video”,”thumbnail_height”:360,”html”:”n&#lt;iframe width=” 480″ height=”270″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/9rEeCaXILlM?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen=”allowfullscreen”&#gt;&#lt;/iframe&#gt;n”,”url”:”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rEeCaXILlM”,”author_url”:”https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc4OQOsHQOgNfHuuezumj0g”}