School Trustees Consider $50-Million Bond Measure

With growing student enrollment and a state mandate to reduce class sizes, Oxnard School District trustees on Wednesday discussed putting a $50-million bond measure on the March ballot hoping to finance at least two additional elementary schools.

For more than a decade, the district has experienced a steady 2% to 3% growth in enrollment, said Sandra Herrera, assistant superintendent for business and financial services. The district grew by 4% this year to 14,228 students and should experience further increases as several housing tracts are developed in the city within the next few years.

The proposed March bond measure is a necessity, said trustee Dorothie Sterling. “We’ve explored other alternatives and there aren’t any alternatives the community would accept.

“Where are you going to put students?” she asked before the meeting. “Do you want them in a broom closet or to go double session?”

Dale Scott, the district’s financial advisor, said the proposed bond measure would cost Oxnard homeowners about $20 to $30 per $100,000 in property value.

The measure would follow by four months a $57-million bond measure the Oxnard Union High School District hopes will pass Nov. 5. Measure Y would provide money to construct a seventh high school and upgrade old facilities.

Administrators are hopeful that the bond measures will not fail as similar measures have in previous years. A $45-million bond measure for a new high school was rejected in 1992.

Last year, the district decided against a plan to place a second $45-million bond on the fall ballot after a survey showed it would not win approval by two-thirds of the voters.

But with a concerted effort by parents and community members to turn out the vote, administrators say, Measure Y has a strong chance of passing this year.

During Wednesday night’s meeting, Oxnard School District trustees brainstormed about how many schools they could build with $50 million and how to word a corresponding bond measure. The board must pass a resolution before Nov. 1 to place a bond measure on the March ballot.

All Oxnard schools have already switched to a year-round schedule and now have to create room for class-size reduction. Since Gov. Pete Wilson announced state incentives for lowering class sizes, the district has pared down all its first grades to 20 students by using 46 classrooms, which is equivalent to almost two schools, Herrera said.

On Wednesday, Oxnard officials received word that the state anticipates giving it $1.12 million to pay for 45 portable classroom.

Trustee James Sutter said he doesn’t know what will happen to ease overcrowding if a measure doesn’t pass next spring.

“We’re scrambling to find space for our first-graders and next year we have to do second grade,” he said.

The $50-million bond measure would provide enough money to build three elementary schools or to construct two schools and to perform needed improvements at other campuses, administrators said.

The last bond measure Oxnard voters approved was in 1988. The $40 million in bonds helped to build Emilie Ritchen Elementary, Frank Intermediate and part of Christa McAuliffe Elementary.