GLENDALE / BURBANK : Glendale Board OKs Bond Survey : Education: Study will determine whether residents back $100-million issue for repairs at 30 schools.

Inching closer to a bond issue of up to $100 million, the Glendale Board of Education on Tuesday night ordered a survey of residents to gauge how much they would be willing to pay to fix up the district’s aging campuses.

The phone survey of about 400 residents will be conducted by Oakland-based Price Research for about $15,000.

“This is a public opinion survey that should indicate whether there is enough interest out there to pursue a bond and, if so, what level financially the public will support,” said Steven Hodgson, assistant superintendent of business services.

Virtually all of the district’s 30 elementary, middle and high school campuses are in need of repair, officials say. Outdated plumbing, heating, lighting and electrical systems are common, and many buildings need new wiring so they can accommodate new computers, audiovisual systems and other technology.

The board has until January to put such a bond issue on the June ballot. Until then, the school district will be collecting data to help determine whether the bond has a fighting chance with voters.

Two-thirds of voters must approve the measure for it to pass. It would be repaid by property tax assessments.

The actual amount of the proposed bond has not been decided, pending the results of the survey and further financial studies to determine the exact cost of all the repairs and improvements needed.

Some officials say they believe the district’s needs exceed $100 million. A bond of that size would tap the owner of a home valued at $300,000 an average of $88 a year over a 25-year period, according to early estimates.

A committee of teachers, administrators and others that studied the district’s structural needs concluded that this type of bond would have less impact on property owners than other financing methods, such as special-assessment districts.

In the next few months, the school board is expected to appoint a bond committee that will use the survey results to devise a campaign strategy, Hodgson said.