About Our Bond Program

Clean, safe and modern school facilities maximize student success. High-quality facilities support learning, enhance teaching and help maintain efficient school operations. 

Uncomfortable classroom conditions reduce attentiveness and keep students from retaining lessons. These factors in the physical environment support or inhibit student engagement and are correlated with positive student outcomes.

Acoustics & Noise

Poor acoustics can affect all students, not just those with hearing loss. Classrooms with excessive outside noise and other auditory disturbances can inhibit student learning and communication.

Air Quality

Improved indoor air quality from new and updated systems contribute positively to student health and reduce absenteeism for students with asthma. 

Temperature

Heat affects concentration and creates physical discomforts that get in the way of learning. A 2018 study from Harvard University found that for every 1 degree temperature increase in the classroom, students’ ability to learn decreased by 1%.

Lighting

Well-lit learning spaces support concentration and are associated with positive student mood and behavior.

Additional information on the impact of school facilities on student learning and engagement is available in this study from the University of Oregon.

Measure Q is a $1.7 billion health, safety and student achievement bond measure approved by local voters in Nov. 2022.

Proceeds from the measure will improve plumbing systems, maintain safe drinking water and upgrade schools to meet accessibility and earthquake safety standards, among other health and safety improvements. Bond proceeds will also renovate libraries, science and computer labs and fund the construction of new career education spaces. Additional Measure Q improvements will include new or renovated athletic facilities and new air conditioning systems at aging campuses that did not need air conditioning under the previous Measure E program but now have systems approaching end of life.

In response to strong public support for repairing aging schools, the Long Beach Unified School District Board of Education on June 23, 2016 approved the placement of a $1.5 billion school repair and safety bond measure on the Nov. 8 ballot. The ballot measure, called Measure E, required approval by at least 55 percent of voters who cast ballots on election day. Voters approved the measure with a 74.86 percent yes vote.

The bond measure is subject to strict accountability requirements, including a public expenditure plan, independent annual audits and review of all spending by an Independent Citizens' Oversight Committee. No money can be spent on administrator salaries, and all funds must be used locally to improve neighborhood schools.

Ballot Text

Measure K is a ballot initiative, approved by 71 percent of voters in November 2008, which makes available $1.2 billion from property taxes to build, renovate and improve schools in the Long Beach Unified School District. The funds come from issuance of a series of bonds to occur four to six times in about ten years.

Since the measure was approved, steady progress is being made to reconfigure and rehabilitate Long Beach Unified School District's aging schools. The funds made available by Measure K has been budgeted to address the most critical building needs of the district.

These needs, identified in the Facility Master Plan and Technology Master Plan, were prioritized through a weighing of numerous factors, including regulatory and building code compliance, technology needs, educational program enhancements, enrollment shifts, school site capacity and utilization, condition of existing structures, board recommendations and equity.

The first new school to be built with Measure K funds, Nelson Academy in Signal Hill, opened in fall 2012. McBride High School, the first of a number of small high schools being planned, opened in fall 2013. Since then, new construction at Newcomb Academy, Roosevelt Elementary School, Sato Academy, Browning High School and Jordan High School have been completed. In addition, modernization of Renaissance High is nearing completion, while Wilson and Polytechnic High Schools have renovated auditoriums opening in 2017. Dozens of other projects, such as the Cabrillo High School aquatic center and new all-weather fields at most high schools and middle schools are being funded by Measure K.

Districtwide projects, such as old portable removable, wi-fi, alarms, bells, security systems and boiler replacements are also being completed.

Measure K funds are subject to strict accountability requirements, including a public expenditure plan, independent annual audits and review of all spending by an Independent Citizens' Oversight Committee. No money can be spent on administrator salaries, and all funds must be used locally to improve neighborhood schools.

LBUSD's Facility Master Plan is a multiyear blueprint for meeting the changing facility needs of the District and creating 21st century learning environments districtwide. Developed with input from LBUSD leaders and community stakeholders, the plan maps out the District's physical infrastructure needs over the long term.

• LBUSD 2022 Facility Master Plan
• Appendices 
• Resolution No. 071822-A

Historical Documents:

• LBUSD 2016 Facility Master Plan Update 
  • Resolution No. 062316-E - A resolution of the Board of Trustees of the Long Beach Unified School District ordering an election to authorize the issuance of general obligation bonds, establishing specifications of the election order, and requesting consolidation with other elections occurring November 8, 2016. 
  • Full Text of Ballot Measure E
     
• LBUSD 2013 Facility Master Plan Update 
   
• LBUSD 2008 Facility Master Plan Update
  • LBUSD Resolution No. 012208-A  - A resolution of the Board of Education of the Long Beach Unified School District adopting a Facilities Master Plan and Related Documents including, educational specifications, design and construction material standards and design standards guidance document.
  • LBUSD Resolution No. 012208-B - A resolution of the Board of Education of the Long Beach Unified School District on sustainability, design guidelines and the adoption of collaborative for high performance schools (CHPS) criteria