Tax Proposal for School Tech Projects Rejected

The school board has decided not to place a measure on the June ballot that would have raised $32 million to improve classroom technology by imposing a $15-a-year tax on property owners.

The proposal effectively died at this week’s3 school board meeting after none of the Santa Ana Unified School District trustees backed a motion by board President Sal Mendoza to vote on the issue.

A bond measure needs the approval of 66% of voters, but a poll commissioned by the school district last year showed that only half of the respondents were willing to pay for new and upgraded schools at a cost of $75 million. District officials said they actually need $125 million in school construction but figured $75 million would stand a better chance of approval from voters.

But the poll also found that 71% of voters supported paying for computer technology, which would cost $32 million.

With those results, Mendoza proposed funding just the technology, but other board members balked for a variety of reasons.

A couple of members said a bond measure should focus on money for school construction to relieve the district’s principal problem of overcrowding, rather than purchasing new technology.

Board member Tom Chaffee also said poll respondents supporting technology were led to believe that meant more computers.

But at a previous meeting, school board members were told that state law allows bond money to be used only for capital improvements, such as the wiring for computers, not the computers themselves.

Said Chaffee: “No way am I going to spend all this money for wires or conduits.”