FACTS | FAQ | WHY
Why our community needs the Measure W High School Facilities Bond.
1. Measure W will reduce campus overcrowding.
- Antelope Valley High Schools are severely overcrowded and are being forced to find classroom space for far more students that they were designed to hold.
- Quartz Hill High School is 100% ABOVE CAPACITY with TWICE as many students as the campus was built to educate. Without an additional high school on the West Side, Quartz Hill will soon exceed 4,000 total students. Highland, Knight, Lancaster, and Palmdale High Schools are also significantly overcrowded.
- Class sizes at all Antelope Valley high schools average 5 students PER CLASS larger than the average for the rest of California.
- The Antelope Valley is one of California’s fastest growing regions. According to the Southern California Association of Governments, the AV’s population will NEARLY DOUBLE in the next 15 years.
- AV High School Educators must find classroom space for hundreds of additional students each year. Unless new permanent classroom facilities are built, class sizes will get much larger and more students will have to be housed in portables.
- The District recently held a recent series of eight community meetings and received survey responses from thousands more AV families which found that overcrowding is the #1 concern for parents and teachers.
2. Measure W will maintain and enhance a quality education for Antelope Valley children.
- ACADEMICS: Antelope Valley Union High Schools now produce a Graduation Rate of 88.6%. By comparison, the average graduation rate for all California High Schools is 85% and the average graduation rate for all Los Angeles County High Schools is 79%.
- COLLEGE OPPORTUNITIES: By providing more classrooms, labs and smaller class sizes, Measure W will boost student test scores and improve our students’ ability to earn college placements and scholarships.
- SCHOOL SAFETY: Measure W will enhance campus safety by reducing overcrowding and providing security enhancements for existing high schools.
3. Measure W will keep local education dollars in the community and generate millions in state matching funds.
- Every dollar generated from a local High School Facilities Bond will stay here in our community to benefit local students and local residents.
- Local bond monies cannot be taken away by Sacramento.
- Last year, California passed Proposition 1-A to provide state matching funds for local school construction. Without a local bond, Antelope Valley residents will LOSE access to these state matching funds.
- The Antelope Valley can’t afford to wait while other school districts are moving quickly to secure state matching funds. For example, the neighboring Victor Valley Union High School District has received $160 MILLION dollars in state matching funds to build schools during the past 16 months
4. Measure W will benefit ALL Antelope Valley residents.
- SAFER COMMUNITIES: The United States Departments of Education and Justice report that overcrowding is a significant risk factor that affects the incidence of crime and anti-social behaviors at schools and in the community. By reducing campus overcrowding, Measure W will help to diminish truancy and
keep more students in school and off our streets.
- PROPERTY VALUES: Studies in Ohio and Florida found that improved student test scores increased home values in the school district by 7 percent.
—Bond monies can only be used for school construction projects that have been specifically approved by the voters.
—NO bond funds may be spent for administrator salaries.
“Law enforcement supports Measure W because it will reduce campus crime and make our schools safer.”
Tom Pigott
Retired Sheriff’s Captain
