League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	San Diego County, CA November 2, 2010 Election
	Proposition P School Bonds Encinitas Union Elementary School District 55% Approval Required Pass: 17,989 / 61.6% Yes votes ...... 11,211 / 38.4% No votes See Also: Index of all Propositions

Arguments For Proposition P

Arguments Against Proposition P

Everyone knows the importance and value of having quality schools. From higher achieving students, to training for future jobs, to greater neighborhood safety, quality schools make a difference. Our teachers and staff do their best in educating our children, but many classrooms and school facilities in the Encinitas Union School District are outdated and inadequate to provide students with the school facilities they need to succeed. Our students need your YES vote on Proposition P! In 1996, our District passed a proposition to modernize and repair some of our elementary schools. Today, we need to finish our projects and upgrade our technology district-wide. We also must become more energy efficient, which will put more money in the classrooms and promote a more environmentally conscious community. Proposition P will not increase current tax rates from the 1996 program and will allow us to meet today's safety, technological, and educational standards. If passed, Proposition P improves all elementary schools by: Improving student access to computers and modern technology Repairing and replacing leaky roofs Improving energy efficiency by installing solar panels Replacing deteriorating plumbing systems Upgrading outdated and inadequate electrical systems Proposition P makes financial sense, doesn't increase tax rates and has taxpayer safeguards. All funds must be spent locally and cannot be taken by the State. Proposition P provides funding without increasing current tax rates. By law, spending must be reviewed and annually audited by an independent citizens' oversight committee. Funds can only be spent to improve Encinitas schools, not for administrator or teacher salaries. Proposition P upgrades and renovates old and inadequate classrooms, improves the education of local elementary children, and maintains the quality of our community. That's something we can all support. Please join us and VOTE YES ON PROPOSITION P! WILLIAM A. BERRIER Retired Superintendent/Educator LOREN NANCARROW Journalist/Author/Environmentalist ANN J. KULCHIN Mayor Pro Tem City of Carlsbad J. LLOYD O'CONNELL Director of Projects TOM COZENS Realtor/Past President Encinitas Rotary Past President San Dieguito Heritage Museum Past President Encinitas Preservation Association Rebuttal to Arguments For Wrong Time, Wrong Bond As an Encinitas Union School District Trustee, I voted against placing Proposition P on the ballot because the measure is flawed. At a time when valued programs are being cut and classroom sizes increased, it is difficult to ask the voters to approve a measure that does nothing to remedy our most important priority - the quality of our children's education. No cost benefit analysis has been performed for this measure, and EUSD cannot tell you what the bond funds will ultimately be spent on, as they don't have final pricing for the listed projects. Prop P is a blank check and the community gets stuck with the bill - $150 million (with interest). A shopping spree with our hard-earned tax dollars is not something I can support, and neither should you. One of the most concerning items is $6.7 million to create an outdoor `learning center', food garden, and `farming studies'. Not math curriculum, not reading specialists, Farming Studies! We can all support green initiatives, but in these difficult financial times, can we afford $5 million dollars in solar panels? We need every dollar to go into benefiting our children in the classroom. Prop P obligates tax payers to decades of additional debt. New debt incurred even before the $29.5 million debt from Prop O is paid off and accounted for. Is this fiscally responsible? Prop P is Pricey and Poorly conceived. Please join me in requiring more accountability to taxpayers by voting "no" on Prop P. MAUREEN "MO" MUIR Trustee, Encinitas Union School District

Vote NO on Prop P, a 'Wish List' We Cannot Afford! EUSD Superintendent Tim Baird has stated that Prop P's $44.2 million dollars is about, "real needs". Like a holiday 'Wish List', much of Prop P is about district `wants' not `needs'. The Isom Company asked 400 tax payers which upgraded school projects they might be willing to pay for over an additional 16 years. EUSD then packaged the voters most enthusiastic responses and framed them into a 'Wish List' that voters were guaranteed to like. What's in the $44.2 million dollar 'Wish List'? 1) $6.7 million of Prop P is to create an outdoor 'Learning Center', for 'farming studies' and science; including an organic garden, a 'staging area for field trips', built on an isolated property distant from any school site. 'Why?' build the expensive 'Learning Center' now? Annually EUSD has been charged by the State $56,566 for not developing this 10-acre Quail Gardens Drive property. When asked 'Why not sell this property it cannot afford?" Baird stated in a news article, "By using the ($6.7 mil) garden as a living lab for science classes, the district can avoid the (annual assessment fee on unused property) payment of $56,566." 2) Prop P is for $5.7 million dollars in solar technology. Current district security cannot protect this expensive technology from vandalism. 3) Prop P creates a $5 million dollar "Endowment" for technology, paid for with borrowed money. Endowments come from private donations that do NOT require payback. 4) Prop P is for a $1.7 million dollar "technology plan"; little to none of which reaches the classroom; but replaces 'attendance' technology just recently purchased. $19.1 million in 'wants' NOT 'needs'. Ask EUSD to return with a more fiscally responsible plan. VOTE NO on the Prop P 'Wish List'. MICHAEL ANDREEN Rebuttal to Arguments Against Repairing roofs, upgrading aging restrooms and classrooms, improving access to modern technology, and improving our neighborhood schools and the education provided to local children are not wants, but needs. Proposition P is a well thought out and affordable plan that will allow the Encinitas Union School District to continue to provide a quality education and the best learning environment for local children. The reason Encinitas schools are some of the best in the state is because voters in our community have consistently supported our schools at the ballot box. In the 1970s, voters approved a ballot proposition to construct classrooms and school facilities. In 1996, voters again approved a ballot proposition to modernize and upgrade our local schools without increasing the tax rate from the earlier proposition. Today, in 2010, Proposition P will allow us to again renovate our schools without increasing the current tax rate from the 1996 program. The Proposition P project list is based on a Needs Assessment established over the last two years. A survey was conducted by the district and voters indicated a willingness to support every project. Proposition P will upgrade and renovate outdated classrooms, improve student access to computers and technology, and make the District energy efficient, saving over $700,000 annually that can be used to maintain small class sizes. As state funding for schools is being slashed, this is not a want, but a need. So please join us in voting Yes on Proposition P to improve our local schools. PATRICIA M. SPIRIT President-Classified of Encinitas LESLIE BOUNDS O'KEEFE President-Teachers of Encinitas LESLIE SIPPEL SALDANA Past PTA President TRINA ZELJAK Past PTA President JOE GERBER Business Owner

Tax Rate Statement

(SECTIONS 9400-9404 OF THE ELECTIONS CODE) To: The voters voting in the November 2, 2010 election on the question of the issuance of $44,200,000 General Obligation Bonds of the Encinitas Union School District. You are hereby notified in accordance with the Elections Code of the State of California of the following: 1. The best estimate from official sources of the tax rate which would be required to be levied to fund principal and interest payments during the first fiscal year after the first sale of bonds (Fiscal Year 2011-2012), based on assessed valuations available at the time of the election and taking into account estimated future growth, is the following: $0.0000 per $100 of assessed valuation. 2. The best estimate from official sources of the tax rate which would be required to be levied to fund principal and interest payments during the first fiscal year after the last sale of bonds and an estimate of the year in which that rate will apply, based on assessed valuations available at the time of the election and taking into account estimated future growth, is as follows: $0.0000 per $100 of assessed valuation. First fiscal year after last sale of bonds: 2019-2020 3. The best estimate from official sources of the highest tax rate which would be required to be levied to fund principal and interest payments on the bonds and an estimate of the year in which that rate will apply, based on assessed valuations available at the time of the election and taking into account estimated future growth, is as follows: $.02359 per $100 of assessed valuation, which equates to $23.59 per $100,000 of assessed valuation, a tax rate which results in no increase above the rate being paid by taxpayers in Tax Year 2010-2011 for the District's existing General Obligation Bonds. Year of highest tax rate: Tax rate of $23.59 per $100,000, once levied in 2021-2022, is projected to be the same every year. Voters should note that the estimated tax rate is based on the ASSESSED VALUE of taxable property on the County's official tax rolls, not on the property's market value. In addition, taxpayers eligible for a property tax exemption, such as the homeowner's exemption, will be taxed at a lower effective tax rate than described above. Certain taxpayers may also be eligible to postpone payment of taxes. Property owners should consult their own property tax bills and tax advisors to determine their property's assessed value and any applicable tax exemptions. The attention of all voters is directed to the fact that the foregoing information is based upon projections and estimates only. The actual tax rates and the years in which they will apply may vary from those presently estimated, due to variations from these estimates in the timing of bond sales, the amount of bonds sold and market interest rates at the time of each sale, and actual assessed valuations over the term of repayment of the bonds. The date of sale and the amount of bonds sold at any given time will be determined by the District based on need for construction funds and other factors. The actual interest rates at which the bonds will be sold will depend on the bond market at the time of sale. Actual future assessed valuations will depend upon the amount and value of taxable property within the District as determined by the County Assessor in the annual assessment and the equalization process. Submittal of the foregoing statement has been approved by the Encinitas Union School District. Dr. Timothy B. Baird Superintendent