Two school districts seek bond money
Measures N and M are the two San Benito County education ballot
initiatives aimed at pumping more money into the San Juan/Aromas
and North County school districts, respectfully.
Two school districts seek bond money
Measures N and M are the two San Benito County education ballot initiatives aimed at pumping more money into the San Juan/Aromas and North County school districts, respectfully.
Measure M, which requires a majority vote, would provide for a $3.7 million bond that would be used to renovate the portion of Spring Grove School not previously renovated under previous construction. The cost breakdown for the taxpayers works out to about $29.30 per $100,000 assessed value per house.
The top priority of the property tax bond would be providing an indoor cafeteria for the students, according to North County Superintendent Howard Chase.
The 550 students at the K-8 school eat lunch outdoors or under awnings when it rains. Chase said that a cafeteria would make it easier on the students during lunchtime.
Additionally, the district intends to renovate 15 classrooms. Last year the school renovated 15 classrooms plus the district office. Chase said that the classrooms need new fixtures, the walls need to be replaced with permanent walls with sound barriers and six additional classrooms need to be built and furnished.
Measure M funds also would renovate the school library, which hasn’t been updated since it was constructed 25 years ago. The upgrades would add a computer lab in the library.
The bond will also allow the district to refurbish dilapidated sports fields and expand the school’s parking lot with an additional 100 spaces plus a new bus entry and exit port.
“The bond doesn’t just impact kids now, but for the next 20 to 25 years,” Chase said. “We feel totally comfortable with what we’re asking for.”
Meanwhile, Measure N is a $23.5 million bond initiative that is aimed at upgrading schools in the Aromas/San Juan School District. The money from the bond would be used to finish the list of projects the district has been working on for several years.
The majority of projects would serve Aromas School, according to San Juan/Aromas Superintendent Jackie Muñoz. The projects include building 14 new permanent classrooms to replace portables that Muñoz described as old, leaky, containing mildew and are rodent-infested.
Munoz said that the money would allow the district to replace those portables with permanent classrooms that could be set up in a safer formation. The school would also build a new library, which is currently located in one of the school’s classrooms and a media center which is also currently housed in another classroom.
The funding also would allow the district to build six new classrooms and additional restrooms on the Anzar High School campus. Also at Anzar the district intends to build a cafeteria since the school currently doesn’t have one and an auditorium.
Part of the funding from Measure N would be used to pay off $2 million of the district’s previous debt from an earlier improvement loan.
Muñoz said she believes everyone in the district understood that the new bond was necessary when they proposed Measure S in 2002, the first bond measure in multiphase project.
“We told the voters that would be the first phase; now we’re back,” Muñoz said. “The board is committed to making the improvements and the feedback from the public has all been positive. We don’t know anyone who is against this.”
North County School District:
Number of schools: 1
Number of students: 550
Voters: 1700
District boundaries: encompasses parts of San Benito and Santa Clara County.
San Juan/Aromas School District:
Number of schools: 3
Students: 1,400
Voters: 4,000
District boundaries: parts of Aromas, San Juan Bautista
