$30-Million Bond for Schools Put on Ballot

A bond issue to raise up to $30 million to upgrade and expand schools in the Sulphur Springs School District has been placed on the Nov. 6 ballot by district trustees.

Wednesday night, trustees endorsed a bond proposal that would expand existing schools to cope with skyrocketing enrollment. The district, which serves 3,200 students in Canyon Country, is the first school district in the Santa Clarita Valley to put a bond measure before the voters this year. Officials from four other school systems in the area are considering similar measures.

The measure, which needs two-thirds approval for passage, would not raise existing property tax rates, district Supt. Robert Nolet said. Instead, it would merely extend by 25 years a series of earlier district bond measures set to expire within five years.

Nolet compared the effect of the measure to taking out a second mortgage on a home. The amount of the monthly payments will not rise, but the payments will be spread out over a longer period of time, he said.