Cost of School District Unification Remains a Concern

An architect's rendering of a new high school proposed for the southeast portion of Menifee.

Discussion of a proposal to create a unified school district for Menifee continues, but the cost of reorganization is one of several hurdles yet to be cleared.

In a presentation to the Menifee Union School District's governing board members Tuesday, a district official outlined the challenges involved in a merger of the MUSD and Menifee high schools, which currently are part of the Perris Union High School District.

Pam Lauzon, assistant superintendent of business services, told board members the biggest hurdle yet to be cleared is the challenge to maintain sound fiscal management and not have an negative effect on the proposed school district or existing school districts affected by the reorganization.

"When we did this study in 2007-08, they found that to be able to make the transaction, it would be a $1.2 million cost to Menifee's general fund," Lauzon told the trustees.

Part of the cost of the reorganization would be construction of a new high school near Leon and Wickerd roads in the eastern portion of Menifee. With reorganization, approximately 1,000 students living in Menifee but currently attending Heritage High School would be moved to the new school, currently referred to as High School No. 4.

The idea of a bond proposal in 2016 was brought up by trustees to help pay for the costs of the reorganization, but Trustee Robert O'Donnell was concerned how it would be perceived by the citizens of Menifee. There has been talk of unification as far back as 1989, and O'Donnell epressed concern that without a trust level and transparency, the public would not have the necessary confidence to pass a bond measure.

One of the next steps in the unification process would be a determination of what the funding per student would be in a newly formed Unified School District. At a blended rate, the MUSD would receive approximately $300 per student on average, but not enough to cover the total cost of adding high school level students to the district, Lauzon said.

Once the numbers and various other information has been processed, a determination could be made  whether to proceed with a study on the impact of a unification.

To move forward, both the MUSD and the Perris Union High School District would need to pass resolutions requesting the State Board of Education to hear the appeal for unification. This is not expected to be a problem, according to Lauzon. The SBE could then complete a study and make its recommendation to approve or disprove the proposal to unify.