The San Benito High School Board of Trustees decided Wednesday
night to delay a proposal to research a bond to either expand the
current high school or build a second one.
Hollister – The San Benito High School Board of Trustees decided Wednesday night to delay a proposal to research a bond to either expand the current high school or build a second one.
The district’s administration is hoping to have a general obligation bond on the ballot by November 2008 – to fund the high school’s structural growth, or to build a second high school. While a motion was brought to the board to hire a research group to survey the community’s level of support for a bond, the board tabled the discussion pending further research.
All trustees agreed that the district and its constituents needed to become more educated on the subject before they spent money on the survey.
The board’s inaction came after a lengthy discussion by Hollister resident Tony Ruiz, who informed them it would be a waste of money to ask the general population – who currently knew little about the issue – their opinion on it.
“The voters don’t know anything. For you to take a survey right now and ask them what they think, its a waste of time. People don’t know,” Ruiz said.
Ruiz also said it’s pointless to give the voters choices they don’t have. He said eventually they would need to build a second high school because of growth.
“You’re going to ask them how they feel? What difference does it make? You need another high school,” Ruiz said. “Even if 70 percent of the people tell you they don’t want to build another high school, it’s still your obligation because you need another high school. And it’s your job to convince them of that.”
Trustee Evelyn Muro said she agreed it’s important to decide what the bond would go toward before performing the survey.
“I feel like the community needs to know more about this,” Muro said. “I want to make sure we go out for success.”
Annette Giacomazzi, principal partner of RURALnomics, a group that would be involved with the research, said the board members should avoid delaying their decision for too long.
“If you decide to go out in the ’08 election, there’s a lot of work to do,” Giacomazzi said. “It’s a process, please keep that in mind in your time frame.”
