Board waits in order to change wording of bond paperwork

By KRIS REILLY, Editor

Due to concerns about the wording of the resolution, the Lucerne Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees has delayed its final decision on pursuing a general obligation bond until Wednesday night.

At last Wednesday’s meeting, the board provided bond paperwork to the audience and had planned to vote on the resolution — until questions arose.

The board will hold an emergency public meeting on Wednesday at 3:45 p.m. at the district offices on Aliento Road, LVUSD Superintendent Mike Noga said.

The bond measure would give the district $7,950,000 to pay off a certificates of participation (COP) loan it took out in 2007. The measure would be on the June ballot and, if passed, would raise local property tax rates by an estimated $59.81 per year per $100,000 of assessed property value for 40 years.

The section of the board’s paperwork that raised questions was the explanation of what the COP money was used for. Lucerne Valley High School teacher Troy Van Bavel questioned the section that said his agricultural program received “classrooms” from COP money.

Also, the document stated that office and warehouse space was constructed for the district’s “operations and maintenance directorate,” which is an expense that was not mentioned in the board or superintendent’s previous communications with The Leader.

One item not on the list was the new temperature and/or lighting controls at the high school/middle school, which was something previously mentioned as a COP expense by the board and Noga.

Due to these issues, the board voted to hold off on approving the resolution until Wednesday night.

The district is in the process of providing a copy of the COP expenditures to The Leader. An interview with Noga was scheduled for last Friday to examine and clarify the list, but that meeting was canceled because Noga was ill. The interview has been rescheduled for Wednesday, and the list should appear in next week’s Leader.

Kris Reilly can be reached at kreilly@vvdailypress.com or at (760) 985-8372.