Our local Murrieta Valley Unified School District (MVUSD) schools are proud of our long-standing tradition of excellence, continuously made possible by the dedication and hard work of our students, teachers and staff. MVUSD was recently ranked the #1 school district in Riverside County by Niche.com.

MVUSD is proud of the progress our district has made; however, many neighborhood schools are now more than 30 years old, with classrooms and science labs that have seen little to no modernization. In just the past year, we recorded over 125 roof leaks, and our aging air‑conditioning systems—many older than 25 years—are increasingly unable to keep up during extreme heat.

While some school facilities have been upgraded, other schools still have aging classrooms and labs that were built for a different era of education. Currently, some students attend classes in more than 150 portable classrooms that are over 20 years old. Many of these classrooms suffer from water leaks, structural damage, and other ongoing maintenance challenges. Continuous repair has risks and is expensive.

If we want students to succeed in college and their careers, they must have safe, updated schools that offer advanced classes in science, math, engineering and technology.

The Murrieta Valley Unified School District Board of Education voted unanimously to place Measure M, a school facilities improvement bond on November 3, 2026, ballot. Measure M would help modernize and repair neighborhood schools and better prepare students for the future. While Measure M would be a new bond measure, if approved by voters, property tax rates are expected to remain at the current rate for as long as the bonds are being repaid.

Yes. Over the past year, the district has partnered with DLR Group, a nationally recognized leader in school architecture, to assess the condition of every classroom in the district and develop a long-term community facilities master plan for all 20 schools. To view the full Community Facilities Master Plan, please visit MVUSDplan.org

Yes. Locally controlled funding from Measure M could be used to repair or replace deteriorating roofs, plumbing, gas lines, sewer lines, ventilation and electrical systems, where needed and address heating, air conditioning and HVAC units that are 20+ years old and starting to fail.

Yes. Measure M would provide funding to improve student safety and campus security systems including security fencing, cameras, emergency communications systems, smoke detectors, fire alarms and sprinklers. Funding could also be used to upgrade older schools, so they meet changing health and building safety codes.

Yes. Funding from Measure M would upgrade and update classrooms, labs and career technical education facilities and equipment to support high-quality instruction in math, science, engineering and technology to prepare students for college and in-demand careers.

Could Measure M help MVUSD qualify for state matching funds?

School Facilities Bonds are repaid through property taxes based on a property’s assessed (not market) value. State Law sets the maximum tax rate for a bond measure at $60 per $100K of assessed value for a unified school district like MVUSD.

Market value is the estimated price a property would sell for in the current open market, representing its actual worth to buyers. Assessed value is the dollar value assigned by local government tax assessors, often a percentage of market value, used solely to calculate annual property taxes. Thus, the assessed value is usually much lower than the market value, especially if a property was purchased long ago at a much lower price than it could be purchased for today.

Measure M requires a strict system of fiscal accountability to ensure funds are spent as promised. Measure M must define exactly allowable projects, preventing the District from spending the money on unrelated projects. An independent citizen’s oversight committee would review the use of funds and disclose all spending to the public. Additionally, School Facilities Bond funds are subject to mandatory annual independent audits by external audit firms.

Prop 2 funds are only available through district matching funds. Our district could get in line to receive once they are distributed if the District has a local school facilities bond. Despite the passage of Prop 2, a statewide school bond measure on the November 2024 ballot, our schools still need a dedicated source of local funding.

Bond measures approved by local voters in the 1990s and early 2000s will soon be paid off. The new proposed bond measure would simply extend the current tax rate to support the issuance of additional bond to continue repairing and upgrading local schools. It will simply extend, but not increase, local tax rates.

No. By law, all funds generated from Measure M would be locally controlled and used to benefit MVUSD schools only.

By California law a school district has 60 days from the passing of a measure to form the oversight committee.  It must be made up of a minimum of 7 volunteer members who serve a term of 2 years each.  Composition of the committee must include representatives from the business community, a senior organization, a taxpayer organization as well as parents with children in the district. In addition, no employee or vendor of the district can be a member of the committee.

Voters in MVUSD approved Measure BB in November 2014 to allow the District to fund upgrades and improvements to neighborhood schools. An independent oversight committee has confirmed that all funds were used as promised. When Measure BB was approved, it was known and acknowledged that the funding from this measure would not address all identified upgrades at that time. While much has been accomplished with Measure BB, some schools have not been upgraded, and many urgent projects still need funding to ensure all students attend school in safe and up-to-date classrooms.

Murrieta Valley Unified School District values feedback and questions from our community as we plan for the future of our local schools. To share your feedback, please visit murrieta.k12.ca.us