By Catelyn Di Leva
and Maysen Marolda
Opinion Editors
Hermosa Beach residents passed Measure S, a measure to expand schools in Hermosa, on Tuesday, which aims to improve the technology, population and structures in the Hermosa Beach City School District. The proposed improvements are necessary to ensure that Hermosa Beach schools are brought up to 21st-century standards by providing students with the tools and facilities that they need to academically succeed.
The district formally confirmed that there are significant facilities that need to be renewed in Hermosa schools, like North School, the preschool in Hermosa, due to their aging buildings, overcrowding and increased academic demands, Superintendent of Schools Patricia Escalante said.
One of the main aspects of the measure is addressing the renovation and modernization of the schools in Hermosa, Escalante said, a much-needed factor that must be addressed.
Click here to read everything about Measure S.
Measure S will provide new classrooms, labs and facilities in the renovations to provide an optimal learning environment, Escalante said. The city will install new technology in the portable and normal classrooms, and the city will remove decaying roofs as well. With many additions to be made, the measure will dramatically benefit the schools because students will hopefully be able to use the facilities and new technology to improve their learning.
In addition, when Hermosa Valley was the sole public school in Hermosa Beach City School District in 1987, the facilities built accommodated for their 666 students who were enrolled, Escalante said. The size of the school may have been sufficient back then, but the size will now be improved with the new measure to account for the school’s growing population.
Due to this continued growth of HBCSD, with a projected 1,431 students to be learning in the same buildings from 1987, the measure’s proposed adjustment of dividing students into three different schools based on grade level with more classrooms per school is, therefore, a necessity for students and teachers.
Click here to read about how Hermosa Beach residents passed Measure S.
However, despite the many benefits North School will have for students, the current residents of the impacted area are opposed to it due to fear of the possible eviction they may encounter from their homes to make room for the new school, Hermosa homeowner Lynne Pope said.
Although some residents see the measure as unjust, in reality, it is both fair and justified, as cities have the right to evict people from their homes due to eminent domain, said Hermosa Beach Mayor Carolyn Petty. Under federal law, eminent domain is the right of a government to seize private property for public or governmental use with a payment of compensation, said Petty.
Although many homeowners are upset due to potential evictions in order to make room for North School, residents should accept the fact that the city of Hermosa Beach is fully entitled to the decision. In addition, the benefits of expanding Hermosa’s school system greatly outweigh the downfalls of evicting a minimal number of residents as long as they receive pay compensation. This is because the learning facilities throughout Hermosa will be improved, said Escalante, resulting in larger schools that will ideally help students flourish.
The implementation of Measures S into the HBCSD will benefit the entire community by allowing Hermosa schools to secure academic excellence. This ensures that all classrooms possess the newest technology and updated facilities, as well as the removal of portable classrooms, which will all ideally improve some of the most crucial facilities throughout Hermosa.
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