Supports Measure L

I am writing to you as a lifelong student of PUSD, and a proud member of the first graduating class from Harmony Magnet Academy (HMA), in support of Measure L.

The opportunity to make a 100 percent locally controlled investment in your schools is the strongest investment you can choose to make, and I hope the thousands of graduates like myself are proof of the ultimate return.

It is clear that PUSD students have gone on to do amazing things over the years and the majority of them weren’t able to enjoy the benefit of new facilities like I was able to experience at HMA. Instead they did their learning in buildings with leaky roofs, non-ada compliant restrooms, and inadequate heating and cooling. With PUSD facilities funded at only a fraction of the local bond dollars per student compared to neighboring districts, I hope you will support making an investment in the buildings that your students are spending eight hours in every day.

Measure L would help bring these classrooms, which are in some cases more than 80 years old, into the 21st Century. This does not mean they will become crystal palaces, but it does mean that your students will have the support of modern amenities to make sure they can focus on learning.

I understand that the idea of any tax, even at only $3 per month, often raises questions. But this is not a dollar that goes someplace else where you won’t see the impact. This is an investment, monitored by a local Independent Citizens Bond Oversight Committee, that will directly impact the future of your children, grandchildren, and community.

As I have lived throughout Southern California and now on the Central Coast, I am proud to tell people I graduated from Porterville Unified. PUSD has become one of the leading districts in the state and with all of the gains made in the last two decades, it is now time to catch up to surrounding communities and invest in the future. Measure L will help secure that future and ensure Grade A students for years to come. Derek Kirk Atascadero