My Position on Measure A

By Merrill Boyce

Measure A will complete the renovation of the district's facilites to support the intellectual and physical growth of our students. No other funding options are feasible at this time.

Not only has the Plan, under careful management, already renewed and replaced facilities that haven't been improved since the 1950s, the entire Plan is now projected to cost less than 77% of the original estimate despite dramatic increases in the cost of materials that were not foreseen in the Plan. This attests to continuous efficiencies in planning and careful project management and oversight.

The capstone phase of the Plan will bring science, technology and sports facilities (gym and fields) to a level consistent with other facilities, with the needs of our students and with the current state of research on safety and education. It will provide facilities for the relevant balance between the intellectual and physical components of education that have been with us since the time of the Greeks and the Romans.

I believe this is the right thing to do and that this is the right time to do it. Delay will result in increased costs and inefficiencies resulting from the dismantling and reestablishment of management and infrastructure which is now in place. I look forward to seeing this final phase go forward to completion.

Some have suggested that there are other sources of funds that will achieve the same ends. In fact, there are none. Private sources are not available at this level; property sales are not feasible in the short term and proceeds would not be available in time to wrap up this final phase efficiently in a reasonable time frame.

In any case, we must give serious consideration to the best use of assets and funds in the context of the District's strategic plan before District assets are liquidated.