Editorial: Olympian supports CVUSD facility renovations

Imagine a CVHS campus with increased spending towards STEM curriculum, more science labs, an expansion to both the band and choir rooms, a new student activity center within the multipurpose room, a new Health and Wellness Center, new special education facilities, eight new classrooms added around the campus, and an expansion to the gymnasium to add more bleacher space and basketball courts.  

These wishes could all come true if Castro Valley voters support a $123 million bond on June 7.

If the bond is passed, funding will go to all the previously mentioned projects, and also towards improving bathrooms, broken roofs, and addressing all kinds of safety concerns.

The cost is estimated to be no more than $60 per $100,000 of assessed property  value annually.  For example, a Castro Valley homeowner who bought a $400,000 home would pay about $240 annually.

We at The Olympian unanimously recommend that voters pass the bond because the students, staff, and administration of CVHS work hard daily, and deserve conditions at the school worthy of their efforts.

At times it can be hard to focus for students, with rooms that have no air conditioning on hot summer days, or leaky roofs on a rainy day.  The students deserve classrooms with conditions better than these to be able to completely focus on the educational experience.

Our teams also deserve the benefit of having clean gyms and locker rooms that won’t leak during a rainy day and risk injury during a game.  

Most of all, every student deserves to be able to use clean bathrooms, free of racial graffiti, and especially stalls that actually do their job and lock.

We acknowledge that this is a large sum of money to ask for Castro Valley families, perhaps even without students as a part of the household.  However, we need some sort of funding to improve our worn facilities, and Donald Trump doesn’t seem to be planning any generous donations to any California East Bay schools.

We ask that families that have students who go to CVHS in their household ask them whether our school is in need of renovations and repairs.  Nearly every student would agree; something has to be improved in some way.

For the Castro Valley families that don’t have a CVHS student under their roof, think about what it was like to be a student.  Think how hard it would be, continuing to focus on a history lecture as the the breeze caught from the outside through a window stops, and there is no air conditioning to maintain a low temperature.

We understand that a bond such as this may be better dealt with in smaller expansions slowly occurring one at a time, but this is the best option we have as of now.

When it comes to be time to vote on June 7, remember that the students, athletes, staff, and administration at CVHS deserve the full opportunity from their school facilities to be able to partake in the educational experience without preventable distraction.