Schools Start Planning Bond Issue Campaign

VENTURA —  After deciding to place what may be the largest school bond measure in the county’s history on the June ballot, the Ventura Unified School District began planning its campaign Wednesday.

District trustees voted earlier this week to go for an $81-million bond to pay for building new schools and renovating old ones.

Bruce Bradley, the county’s elections chief, said the school bond is probably the largest ever placed before county voters. Although he didn’t have information about elections prior to 1970, he said it is likely that any bond placed on the ballot before then would have been smaller.

District officials are working on a more detailed list of projects that would be financed. And although the bond amount may be considered hefty by some, district officials said they need a large amount to implement a report by a special 19-member committee.

The panel recommended spending $120 million by the year 2010 to reduce class sizes, and build at least several new elementary schools, a middle school and magnet high school. Officials anticipate that the district will grow by 3,100 students by the year 2010.

“The needs are large, and when we had our committee, the committee really wanted us to try our best to accomplish that goal, so we came up with the plan to do that,” said Joseph Richards, the district’s assistant superintendent of business services. The district also plans to look into getting developer fees and state funds, and selling surplus property to raise money.

If the bond measure passes, it will be the first in the district’s 31-year history.

Ken Prosser, who calculates the tax rate for all county school districts at the Ventura County superintendents of schools office, compares a bond to a loan.

“You’re selling a piece of paper to someone that says we promise to pay you back the money, and that payment is probably spread over 20 or 30 years and it’s being paid off by the taxpayers,” he said.

The district expects homeowners to pay an average of $27.75 per year for the next 30 years. A homeowner with the average Ventura home price of $206,000 may pay about $57 a year.

“When you talk about $50 or more on someone’s property tax bill, they’re going to think long and hard of approving that,” said H. Jere Robings, president of the Ventura Alliance of Taxpayers, who also wanted to make clear that his organization has not yet decided to take a stand on the bond. “There are going to be some expensive homes that are going to be impacted substantially.”

Trustees said taxpayers should view the price of paying for school in smaller chunks. If the tax price per year is broken down by months, it amounts to about $5 a month.

“My goodness, I spend more than that on pizza,” trustee Jim Wells said. “You spend more than that when you go to Carl’s Jr. and add in a large order of fries . . . $5 a month, my gosh, pass the offering plate.”

Trustees say the bond money is a chance for parents to help improve the schools.

“Here’s an opportunity for the community at large to say, ‘We care about the future, we care about our children and we’re willing to take on this obligation for our children’s sake,’ ” Wells said.

The only time that district officials tried to pass a bond was in 1969. Some of the same needs existed then as now.

A $13-million bond measure was placed on that ballot to pay for several new elementary schools and a middle school, and to make additions to existing schools. The bond, however, failed to get more than the two-thirds approval required.

This year, Ventura will join a number of districts in the county with bond measures on the ballot. Fillmore Unified, Hueneme and Oxnard elementary school districts have placed bond measures on the March 4 ballot. Ventura Unified and Ocean View school districts will have measures on the June 3 ballot.