Riverside Measure O scrutiny continues after state audit and court rulings

Riverside Unified School District’s Measure O bond remains under scrutiny after a California State Auditor report found that reviewed expenditures aligned with the bond’s allowable purposes but identified weaknesses in documentation, budgeting and public communication.

The questions center on the district’s $392 million Measure O bond, approved by Riverside voters in November 2016, and the proposed STEM Education Center. They also follow a legal challenge by Riversiders Against Increased Taxes, which argued that the district could not use bond proceeds for several new-school projects. Courts rejected the group’s requests for an injunction and writ relief, while the audit addressed a different set of questions about project management, records and transparency.

What the lawsuit challenged

Riversiders Against Increased Taxes filed its complaint against RUSD and then-Superintendent Renee Hill on July 14, 2023, under California’s school-bond waste-prevention law.

The group sought to stop the district from using Measure O funds for four sites: Casa Blanca Elementary, the Eastside and Highgrove II neighborhood schools, and the STEM Education Center. RAIT argued that the projects were not specifically identified in Measure O’s project list and that the district had not adequately certified that it evaluated required needs when developing the list.

The trial court denied RAIT’s request for a preliminary injunction and later denied its petition for a writ of mandate. The court concluded that the bond language contemplated both improvements to existing schools and construction of new school facilities. The appellate case record likewise describes Measure O as informing voters that bond proceeds could be used to acquire land and construct new schools.

Those decisions resolved the legal question presented in the case about whether the bond language permitted the challenged categories of projects. They did not eliminate separate questions about how RUSD documented funding decisions or explained them to the public.

What the state audit found

The California State Auditor published its report on June 9, 2026, after reviewing RUSD’s oversight and management of the proposed STEM Education Center and related Measure O issues.

The report said the district’s process for selecting Measure O projects complied with the laws and requirements reviewed. It also said the Measure O expenditures examined by auditors aligned with the purposes approved by voters.

That finding is narrower than a conclusion that every Measure O transaction was individually reviewed. It means the audit did not identify an illegal use of bond funds among the expenditures it examined.

Measure O authorized RUSD to issue $392 million for school facility work, including repairs, upgrades, acquisition and construction of school sites and facilities. The auditor reported that the district had spent approximately $1.9 million on STEM Center planning through December 2025.

The proposed center had been delayed by site changes, environmental review and negotiations with UC Riverside. In May 2026, RUSD and UC Riverside announced that they were no longer seeking to develop the center on the university’s campus.

Why transparency remains an issue

The audit found that RUSD’s campaign materials and long-range facilities planning documents did not clearly communicate that Measure O funding would be used for new school construction, including the STEM Center and three other schools.

Auditors also found that the district reported different amounts of Measure O funding associated with the STEM Center in different records, sometimes without clear board approval. The report described the problem as an inconsistency in documentation and communication that made it harder for the public and the Board of Education to understand the district’s financial commitments.

The audit also said incomplete project-cost information limited transparency. Budgets did not always include important cost components, including inflation, which affected how the board and public understood total project costs.

Those criticisms are not the same as a finding that the sampled bond spending was illegal or fraudulent. The auditor concluded that reviewed expenditures complied with the ballot language while also recommending improvements to transparency and standardized budget and accounting practices.

How the district and RAIT frame the dispute

RUSD’s response emphasizes the audit’s conclusions that project selection complied with applicable requirements and that reviewed expenditures aligned with the Measure O ballot language. The district also points to the bond’s voter approval and its citizens’ bond oversight structure.

RAIT has argued that Measure O was presented primarily as a way to repair and improve aging schools and that the district later shifted toward new construction. Those remain the organization’s allegations and characterization of the dispute, not findings by the auditor.

The state audit and court rulings therefore provide different pieces of the record. The courts addressed whether Measure O authorized the types of projects challenged by RAIT. The auditor examined how RUSD planned, documented and communicated the STEM Center and related bond decisions.

What Riverside residents can watch next

Residents can review RUSD’s Measure O audit materials, citizens’ bond oversight information and future board or oversight-committee agendas for updated records about the STEM Center’s funding history and the district’s next steps for STEM facilities.

The district’s current materials say the university-campus STEM Center will not proceed and that RUSD is evaluating other ways to support STEM programming and address Riverside STEM Academy’s facility needs. Any future proposal should be evaluated separately from the legal question already addressed in the Measure O litigation.

For Riverside taxpayers, the central issue is not simply whether Measure O could legally support new schools. It is also whether the district’s records, budgets and public explanations make clear how bond priorities changed, what was committed to the STEM Center, and how remaining funds will be used.

Sources

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