Watch the CUSD shell game
Letter to the editor

Is it true Mission Viejo redevelopment funds are being used to pay off the
$35-million-dollar Certification of Participation that Capistrano Unified School District borrowed to finance its new administration building? A portion of this COP was supposed to fund reconstruction at Newhart Middle School according to Resolution 0102-72, dated Mar. 18, 2002.

The funds haven’t been used to modernize or repair Newhart, and some parts of the school are in bad condition. Instead of the permanent facilities it needs, Newhart has received more portables. Enrollment at this school hasn’t fluctuated enough to warrant the imbalance of 53 portables and 19 permanent classrooms.

The contrast is stunning between some of the rundown schools in Mission Viejo and the extravagant new administration building. An example of final touches, the new building includes wrought iron balconies, some of which are purely ornamental for windows without outdoor access. The commercial building next door is plain by comparison, and it was built by a private developer. How can CUSD afford the new building while cutting programs and asking parents to make up the difference? The cost of the administration building jumped from $25 million to $35 million while parents were raising money for everything the district “can’t afford.”

Parents and other community members who have been watching the Taj Mahal being built alongside the freeway in San Juan Capistrano know that something isn’t right with this school district. The shell game of school finance is only one of the problems.

Connie Lee
Mission Viejo