School Bond Measure Backed in Phone Poll

VENTURA —  Most of the city’s voters give the school district high marks for the quality of education it provides, according to a telephone poll that shows that most residents would support a school bond measure.

Though people might change their minds before election day, the survey results unveiled Tuesday night by Dale Scott & Co. Inc., the Ventura Unified School District’s financial advisors, show that 69.3% of residents would support a school bond.

The results of a telephone survey of 400 randomly selected Ventura voters were released during a district study session. The survey, conducted earlier this month by independent pollster Price Research, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3%

“If I would look at this report I would give it an A. These are very good results,” said advisor Mitch Templeton of Dale Scott & Co., which specializes in school bond campaigns. “I’m very excited for this district.”

Supt. Joseph Spirito said the district plans to decide whether to place a bond on the June ballot by next Tuesday. The amount has not been determined, but the bond would pay for school renovations and construction.

A 19-member district committee, assembled to deal with school overcrowding, recently completed a five-month study that recommends spending $120 million to construct at least four schools by 2010. Among the financing options, the committee recommended issuing a bond.

The survey results suggest such a campaign could be successful. Seventy-one percent of the survey respondents said the quality of the city’s schools ranges from above average to excellent.

“That’s unbelievable, that’s astronomical,” Templeton said, given that only 25% to 30% of the city’s voters are parents of school-age children. A bond requires a two-thirds vote, or at least 66.7% voter approval, for its passage.

When asked whether they supported spending money to repair leaking roofs, 74% of those polled said yes; 72% said they would support paying to improve school technology.

Support for paying for new school buildings, however, fell a bit shy of the two-thirds target. About 65% of respondents support building a high school, 62% a middle school, and 64% an elementary school.

But not everyone would support a school bond issue. Parents of teenagers affected by last February’s decision to move some Buena High School students to Ventura High School have said they would vote against it.

“There’s a feeling of anger and lost respect for the school board,” said Dustan Howard, a Buena parent who opposed the board’s decision to change the attendance boundaries. That decision deeply affected many families, he said.

“They’re against the school bond because they don’t have any confidence in this school board,” Howard said before the meeting.

But Tuesday night, school officials appeared elated at the survey results. However, consultant Dale Scott cautioned, school districts such as the Oxnard Union High School District, which passed a $57-million bond in November, must work hard to be successful.

“If the board decides to move forward, I want to make this absolutely clear: Getting a vote of two-thirds is won on the basis of the work of the community,” said Scott, whose company is paid only if a school bond passes.

“We understand that we have to work and we’re committed to that,” said Spirito, who was ill and talking via speaker phone from his home. “We’re not going to expect you to do miracles.” Teachers, parents and community members will work together, he said.

Board members plan to meet again at 2 p.m. Friday at district headquarters, 120 E. Santa Clara St., to discuss other methods of financing the $120-million plan, such as selling surplus property and increasing developers’ fees.