Sulphur Springs School Bond Vote Stirs Interest

In an election that is being closely watched by neighboring Santa Clarita Valley school districts, voters in the Sulphur Springs School District will decide Tuesday whether to approve a $30-million bond measure to renovate and expand schools in the burgeoning district.

Officials from other valley school systems considering similar measures said the election in the 3,200-student Sulphur Springs district will indicate whether valley residents are willing to dig into their pocketbooks to help local schools.

The valley’s five school districts have projected that the region will need at least 33 new schools--at a cost of $400 million--by 2010. The districts are trying to obtain construction money from the state and developers but are now turning to the taxpayers.

The Sulphur Springs proposal, known as Measure CK for Classrooms for Kids, must receive a two-thirds vote to pass.

“It will not increase the tax rate,” said Richard Keysor, chairman of the Citizens’ Committee for Classrooms for Kids. Instead, Measure CK would extend the life of an existing school bond.

Under that existing bond, property owners are charged 9 1/2 cents for each $100 of assessed valuation, Keysor said. That amounts to $190 on a $200,000 house.

Keysor said a core group of about 120 volunteers has walked door-to-door in the Canyon Country district, saying that the measure would not raise property tax bills.

If approved, Measure CK would allow the district to replace 50 temporary classrooms with permanent structures and generally upgrade the district’s seven campuses, Keysor said.

Pat Willett, a trustee in the Newhall School District, said Newhall officials are watching the Sulphur Springs election with great interest. Newhall trustees have agreed in principle to place a bond before that district’s voters in June.

And in an unusual move, a neighborhood in the Newhall district will vote in February on a bond measure that would raise taxes only within the area--known as the Summit--to build a neighborhood school.

Tuesday, Santa Clarita Valley voters also will select two members for the board of directors of the Castaic Lake Water Agency.