BOND PACKAGE SENT TO SENATE LAUSD EXPECTED TO GET $2 BILLION.Byline: Sonia Giordani Staff Writer Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Unified stands to get more than $2 billion under a state bond package worked out Thursday by state legislators, but the school district still would need at least as much from local taxpayers to complete its massive construction program. The Assembly approved on Thursday a proposal to put a $13 billion bond measure on the November ballot and a $12.3 billion bond issue on the March 2004 ballot. The package has bipartisan support and is expected to quickly pass the Senate and go to the governor. The LAUSD LAUSD Los Angeles Unified School District (Los Angeles, CA) is expected to get about 10 percent of the money and plans to ask voters in November to approve a local bond issue for more than $2 billion in matching funds Noun 1. matching funds - funds that will be supplied in an amount matching the funds available from other sources cash in hand, finances, funds, monetary resource, pecuniary resource - assets in the form of money - so the district can relieve crowded school facilities by finishing 83 new schools and end year-round scheduling. The state bonds would provide $11 billion for new schools and $5.5 billion in modernization projects. Higher education higher education Study beyond the level of secondary education. Institutions of higher education include not only colleges and universities but also professional schools in such fields as law, theology, medicine, business, music, and art. would get $4 billion and charter schools would be eligible for up to $400 million. About 100 school districts statewide, including the LAUSD, stand to share $4.14 billion among them to relieve severe overcrowding overcrowding overcrowding of animal accommodation. Many countries now publish codes of practice which define what the appropriate volumetric allowances should be for each species of animal when they are housed indoors. Breaches of these codes is overcrowding. . The Los Angeles Unified School District The Los Angeles Unified School District (the "LAUSD") is the largest (in terms of number of students) public school system in California and the second-largest in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population. has nearly half the state's 335,000 students who study in overly congested con·gest·ed adj. Affected with or characterized by congestion. congested ENT adjective Referring to a boggy blood-filled tissue. See Nasal congestion. schools. ``We can't finish our new schools plan without this money,'' said school board President Caprice ca·price n. 1. a. An impulsive change of mind. b. An inclination to change one's mind impulsively. c. Young. ``It will go a long way toward making sure these schools get built.'' Young said the LAUSD also needs a local bond issue on the November ballot to provide matching funds for the state bond money. ``The match will be about 50 percent, so we will need a minimum of $2 billion in local bond money to match the state,'' Young said. ``And then there are some things that state bond money can't cover, so we'll have to factor that into the local bond, too.'' The state measure would allow school districts to use offices, churches and other existing structures for classroom space as long as they meet seismic safety standards Safety standards are standards designed to ensure the safety of products, activities or processes, etc. They may be advisory or compulsory and are normally laid down by an advisory or regulatory body that may be either voluntary or statutory. set by current building codes and other laws. Right now, schools are barred from occupying existing buildings such as office buildings that do not meet requirements of the Field Act, a 69- year-old state law setting higher seismic safety standards for public schools. The law requires the state Division of Architecture to approve school building plans and to supervise construction work. The bond package, put together by former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, passed the state Assembly with broad bipartisan support in a 71-6 vote. Assemblyman Keith Richman, R-Granada Hills, said the funds will provide critical funding for construction and modernization of schools. ``Los Angeles Unified has a very poor record historically on school construction and modernization and most recently with Proposition BB has not acted in a fiscally prudent manner,'' Richman said. He has introduced a bill aimed at expanding the role of the district's inspector general in overseeing construction projects. ``It will ensure the money gets spent wisely and that the contracts are done well.'' |
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