Voter Guide: State construction bonds: How local schools would be affected Voter Guide: State construction bonds: How local schools would be affected (February 18, 2004)

Proposition 55 would provide $12.3 billion for "necessary education facilities to relieve overcrowding and to repair older schools." Funds would be targeted to areas of the "greatest need," according to the ballot statement. Districts would need to apply for the state funds.

Below is a district-by-district account of how the passage of Prop 55 would affect local schools.
High school district

With about 800,000 square feet of existing classrooms, the Sequoia Union High School District will be applying for modernization funds, said Ed LaVigne, the assistant superintendent of administrative services for the district.

The district currently has about $95 million in unspent bond funds from two local measures, Mr. LaVigne said. District voters approved a $45 million measure in 1996 and an $88 million measure in 2001.

Applying for matching funds is always something of a gamble, Mr. LaVigne said. Applications have about an 18-month window, during which the target project has to have already begun. In other words, the district should have the resources necessary to complete the project on its own, he said.

Menlo Park district

Menlo Park City School District will apply for modernization funds for its Laurel School in Atherton if Proposition 55 is approved by voters. Superintendent Ken Ranella said last week that Laurel School is the only one of the district's four schools that could qualify for the proposed state funding because previous state money was not used to renovate and modernize the K-3 school in the late 1990s.

Under Proposition 55, Superintendent Ranella said the district could be entitled to about $1.86 million, based on a matching grant. Under this grant, the state would pay 60 percent of the amount and the district would pay the remaining 40 percent. The state allotment is based on of $4,500 for each of Laurel's 414 students.

State modernization funds were used at Oak Knoll, Encinal and Laurel schools in addition to the $22 million bond funds, approved by voters in 1995.

Las Lomitas district

About $3 million in matching funds may be coming to the Las Lomitas Elementary School District if voters approve state Proposition 55 on March 2, superintendent Mary Ann Somerville told the Almanac.

The district applied for the grant about a year and a half ago, but was put on a waiting list when the money ran out, Ms. Somerville said.

In combination with the district's two $12 million bond measures -- one in 1999 and another in 2001 -- Las Lomitas will have spent $27 million on capital improvements over the last five years.

Portola Valley district

Schools in the Portola Valley School District will not receive any additional state funds if Proposition 55 passes, said Tim Hanretty, the district's business manager. The district completed its major renovation and construction project at both schools in 2002-03 school year, and is not eligible for additional facilities funding from the state, he said.

Woodside district

The Woodside Elementary School District applied for and received funds from the statewide measure passed in 2002, so is ineligible to apply this time around, said superintendent John Harter.

Prop 55: How funding works

Among choices facing California voters on the March 2 ballot will be whether to authorize the state to sell $12.3 billion in school modernization bonds.

The measure, called Proposition 55, is a proposal from the state Legislature and is a partner to Proposition 47, a $13.05 billion bond measure passed by voters in 2002.

The total of $25.35 billion is intended to construct and modernize "necessary education facilities to relieve overcrowding and to repair older schools," particularly those with the greatest need, according to a League of Women Voters of California analysis.

Proposition 55 funds would be divided as follows:

** $10 billion in matching funds for K-12 facilities, with $5.26 billion going for new construction -- including $300 million for charter schools -- and about $2.3 billion each for modernization and to relieve critically overcrowded schools.

** $2.3 billion for higher education, with community colleges receiving $920 million and UC and CSU campuses $690 million each.

Districts must apply, with hardship cases getting priority. Other sources of school district funding for capital improvement projects are local general obligation bonds, special local bonds and developer fees, in which districts levy fees for new residential, commercial or industrial construction.

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