A $49.5 million bond to pay for repairs, renovations and new buildings on the Portola Valley School District’s two campuses is on the November ballot as Measure Z.
The measure requires 55 percent of the vote for approval. The bond would add a maximum of $300 per $1 million of assessed valuation to property tax bills, or $900 a year for the owner of a house valued at $3 million.
All voters who live within the school district boundaries — which go beyond those of the town of Portola Valley — can vote on the bond measure. The district includes Woodside residents who live in the Skylonda and Skywood Acres neighborhoods and off Philips and Family Farm roads, and part of Mountain Home Road. See a map of the school district boundaries at is.gd/PVSDmap.
The impartial analysis of the measure says the total cost of the measure, including interest payments, is $97.5 million.
If the measure is approved, the district will have a competitive process to find an architect to design the project.
Portola Valley School District Superintendent Eric Hartwig said a majority of the bond money will go to new construction, but only because some of the existing buildings are in such bad shape that it is less expensive to replace than repair them. The school district, which has recently had slight drops in enrollment, will not end up with more classrooms than it now has, he said.
Corte Madera School has 15 classrooms built in 1958, 1960 and 1964; Ormondale has 14 classrooms built in 1961 and 1976, plus two 30-year-old “temporary” portable classrooms.
Hartwig and Measure Z supporters point to a range of structural and infrastructure problems that now beset both schools, including leaky roofs; aging and faulty plumbing and electrical systems; outdated facilities, classrooms and security systems; and health hazards such as mold in buildings that children and teachers must occupy for hours a day. Earlier this year, an undetected leak in a 40-year-old underground pipe caused major damage to the Corte Madera gym, closing the facility for weeks while repairs were made.
Bond revenue would go toward projects listed in a facilities master plan approved by the school board. The plan prioritizes projects into three areas: immediate, to be built if funding is available, and long-term.
The facilities master plan shows immediate projects at Corte Madera School, including a new two-story classroom building, costing between $38.4 and $42.5 million. At Ormondale School, projects costing $10.9 to $12 million are included as immediate first-phase priorities.
Adding in the projects that will done if funding is available and long-term projects, Corte Madera has a total of $56.8 million to $62.8 million in master plan projects, while Ormondale School has $21 million to $23.3 million in projects.
The phase-one total for both schools is $49.3 million to $54.5 million.
Planned phase-one projects at Corte Madera, which has grades four through eight, include:
• A new two-story classroom building at $32.3 million to $35.7 million.
• Classroom modernization and repairs, including heating and air conditioning, lighting, flooring, windows, paint, door hardware, and ceilings at $919,000 to $1 million.
• Campus repairs and renovations, including roofing, siding, paint, restrooms and storm drains at $2 million to $2.3 million.
• Fields, courtyard and PE storage at $3.1 to $3.5 million (courtyard renovations are projected at $2.5 million to $2.7 million).
Planned phase-one projects at Ormondale School, which has transitional kindergarten through grade three, are:
• New innovation center at $6.6 million to $7.2 million.
• Classroom modernization and repairs including heating and air conditioning, lighting, flooring, windows, paint, door hardware, and ceilings at $1.6 million to $1.8 million.
• Campus repairs and renovations, including roofing, siding, paint and storm drains at $1.2 million to $1.4 million.
• Repairing fields and renovating the grass courtyard at $1.5 to $1.6 million.
The only signatory of the ballot argument against the measure is Mark W.A. Hinkle of Morgan Hill, the president of the Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association. He routinely files ballot arguments against school bond measures. He says the measure is similar to bond measures approved by district voters in the past 20 years and “will essentially do the same thing all over again” that the earlier bond measures did.
Portola Valley last passed bond measures in 2001, for $6 million, and in 1998 for $7 million.
All the other school districts within The Almanac’s circulation area have passed school bonds for major renovations or new construction in the past five years. Las Lomitas voters passed a $70 million bond earlier this year and a $60 million bond in 2013. Woodside Elementary School district voters passed a $13.5 million bond in 2014 and a $12 million bond in 2005. Menlo Park City School District voters passed a $23 million bond in 2013 and a $91.1 million bond in 2006.
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