Half Moon Bay - school bond $250 x 25 years, June 2012 ballot

Half Moon Bay Review/Lily Bixler, 3/16/12. "School board OKs bond for June ballot".

"School board members voted unanimously Thursday to put on the June ballot an $81 million general obligation bond for school facilities that would cost the average property owner about $250 per year.  The decision to put the 25-year bond on the ballot was controversial during a time when many parents are growing more distrustful of Cabrillo Unified School District.

HMB High School  Marching Band

HMB High School teaching skills program for children

The board is handing out provisional layoff notices to teachers and other district staff later this spring, which would increase class sizes to 27 students to each teacher in early elementary grades. To some parents who spoke out at the Thursday night meeting, the move runs counter to the Measure E parcel tax agreement Coastsiders passed in 2010 to, in part, “retain qualified teachers and smaller class sizes.”

Though some parents told the board during public comment that their growing mistrust would deter them from voting for the new June bond, others came out in support of it. Coastsider Jim Larimer told the board he thought the bond was “brilliant.” He said education should be the state’s top priority but instead is greatly underfunded. He noted that now is a perfect time for a bond because interest rates and construction costs are at historic lows.

Soccer at Alvin S. Hatch Elementary School

“This is a really good idea,” he said. “(We’re) going to trade in our Humvee for a hybrid with some of these buildings.” Larimer was referring to how the bond measure would help make basic repairs and upgrades at local schools while bringing in new technology for efficiency and to enhance learning.
EMC Research conducted a survey in mid-February to test local support for a bond. Overall, there’s strong support for improving schools with a bond, with 63 percent of survey responders saying they’d vote for it. Unlike parcel taxes that require a two-thirds majority, general obligation bonds pass with 55 percent of votes.

A summary of the ballot measure presented to the board Thursday night says the bond would “… improve the quality of education in local schools by replacing leaky roofs, performing essential safety repairs on classrooms and facilities, updating science labs, equipping classrooms with 21st-century technology, maximizing energy efficiency and water conservation to save money, and renovating, constructing and equipping classrooms and facilities …” The summary notes the bonds would be at legal rates and there would be a citizen oversight committee and annual audits and no funds for administrators’ salaries."

Posted by Kathy Meeh