Faced with tens of millions of dollars worth of infrastructure improvement needs, Millbrae School District trustees agreed to begin surveying the public on their support for a bond measure that would be placed on the ballot in 2024.
Trustees discussed whether the district should begin surveying the community on a new bond measure during a meeting Tuesday night. Superintendent Debra French said the survey would be the first step in determining whether the district should spend the money to conduct an updated facilities master plan.
“Time is ticking and we’re almost at the end of July 2023 and if we’re planning to consider a bond measure for the 2024 election, we would need to start that process immediately,” French said. “We would certainly need to go back out for a survey to find out sort of the threshold and the community capacity for a bond measure and then engage our bond partners around discussion about funding capacity and survey.”
The district’s most recent plan, adopted in 2018, suggested the district consider pursuing a bond measure of between $80.5 million and $87 million which would help the district access matching state funding to improve campuses.
Among key projects would be the complete demolition and rebuilding of Lomita Park Elementary School, estimated to cost about $50 million at the time. The remaining funds would go toward rehabilitating and constructing new structures at Taylor Middle School, Spring Valley, Green Hills and Meadows elementary schools, and the administrative building.
Five years after that plan was adopted, many of those improvements are still needed and the cost of the projects have likely substantially grown. French noted the district would not likely be able to cover the cost of all projects with whatever bond it pursued, were the public to approve it.
The district currently has the capacity to take out a bond worth about $90 million, French said. She plans to meet with the district’s financial team next week to get a clearer picture, she said.
Trustees seemed mixed on whether now was the right time to begin considering a bond measure. Trustee Maggie Musa questioned what the district would ask the public through the survey given that a bond amount hadn’t been discussed. She and Trustee Karen Chin also noted the district has seen declining enrollment, which could call into question how much money is truly needed.
Chin also said she’d like to dive deeper into the district’s facilities master plan and to see additional information on how the district could “be creative in terms of financing” for some of the projects, specifically calling out Lomita Park Elementary improvements.
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“I’m totally for raising the money and making sure we have the money we need to be able to redo facilities and making sure we line up things we need to fix,” Chin said. “I just don’t have a sense of the urgency, how much, when, where. … I want to make sure I understand that master plan before we ask for a big number without knowing how much we truly need.”
Trustee Frank Barbaro agreed with both Musa and Chin about the need to better understand what the district may need and its responsibility to adequately communicate those needs to the public but was also the most eager to put out a survey.
“I think it’s time. Just to get the temperature would be a good start,” Barbaro said.
French noted creating a new facilities master plan would be a very expensive process the district could put off a few more years if not going out for a bond. An update to the plan would be required if a bond is pursued. She also clarified that the survey would be conducted by a third party, which typically asks general questions to determine what types of improvements the community would support. For the bond to pass, at least 55% of voters would need to back it.
The district has seen mixed success at the ballot box in recent years. Measure A, a $125 per parcel tax, was approved by about 70% of voters in May of this year. But Measure E, a $90 million bond measure put on the ballot last June only received 53.58% of the vote, about 1.5% short of passing.
If polling shows a new bond measure will pass and the board decides to send it to the ballot, voters will have a say on the measure in 2024. If not put on the ballot then, the district would have to wait until 2026 to seek the funding. The board ultimately agreed take French’s advice, directing district staff to conduct the survey before pursuing an updated master plan.
“If we go out for a survey, that doesn’t commit us to going out for a bond. What we may find is the community has a huge capacity for that. We may find in fact we don’t,” French said. “There’s a lot of timelines in bonding we have to meet and there’s a lot of preparation work that needs to happen.”
Just be warned. The Belmont Redwood Shores School District just decided to waste tens of thousands of our bond money on a superfluous solar system. It is under construction. School districts have become a target for bond underwriters who in collusion with contractors will try to justify costly, and sometimes unnecessary, facility upgrades. Strangely, most see declining enrollment and declining student proficiency. I would urge the trustees to take a hard look at what is being proposed.
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Just be warned. The Belmont Redwood Shores School District just decided to waste tens of thousands of our bond money on a superfluous solar system. It is under construction. School districts have become a target for bond underwriters who in collusion with contractors will try to justify costly, and sometimes unnecessary, facility upgrades. Strangely, most see declining enrollment and declining student proficiency. I would urge the trustees to take a hard look at what is being proposed.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.