Conejo School Officials Press Public for Bond Measure

After an hour of trying to sell a crowd of Thousand Oaks residents on the need for a $80-million to $100-million school bond, district Supt. Jerry Gross wanted to see how he was doing.

He and Assistant Supt. Gary Mortimer had bombarded the group of business people, real estate agents, community activists and parents with charts and graphs showing the costs of renovating aging district buildings and funding popular programs, like class-size reduction. Now Gross wanted feedback.

“Can I have a show of hands, people who support this?” he asked.

Close to 50 hands shot up, representing most people in the room.

But not everyone. Jere Robings, president of the Ventura County Alliance of Taxpayers, kept his hands down.

Gross laughed. “We have work to do,” he said.

The noon meeting was one of two that the Conejo Unified School District had scheduled Wednesday to show parents the need for a fund-raising bond. Trustees are scheduled to vote Friday on whether to pursue a bond measure, which would go before voters in November.

Conejo schools officials have so far been encouraged by the community’s reaction to the idea, noting that a recent survey conducted with the park district and city showed residents far more willing to support raising extra money for schools than for parks or open space.

But there are still people to convince, people like Robings, who want more information on the exact size of the bond and its effect on local taxes.

Robings said after the meeting that his organization has not yet taken a position on the measure.

“We will be watching very carefully to see what the final proposal is,” he said. “But by the same token, we do realize that schools do need to be maintained and refurbished. It’s no economy to let a roof deteriorate.”

Indeed, much of the pitch in Wednesday’s meetings focused on such repair and maintenance needs within the 17,993-student district.

Using figures from a preliminary survey of the district’s schools, many of which are more than 30 years old, Mortimer said a typical elementary school may need about $1.3 million worth of work, from modernizing bathrooms to installing air-conditioning. Figures indicate that Thousand Oaks High School could use about $2.2 million to renovate the gym, locker rooms and bathrooms, and upgrade communications equipment.

Overall, the district’s needs will total about $100 million in the next seven to 10 years, Gross said.

The district has not yet decided how big a bond to pursue, although officials have said the amount would probably fall between $80 million and $100 million.

Officials estimate that a typical Thousand Oaks homeowner would have $20 to $25 added to the annual property tax bill to repay the bond issue.

For many in the audience, the demonstrated need outweighed any hesitation about the size of the bond measure.

“We need it just to bring the schools into the 20th century, much less the 21st,” said parent Brian Collier, who has put three children through the district’s schools.

Citing the need for better facilities and more computers in schools, Collier said he was even willing to pound the pavement to make sure that other Thousand Oaks residents backed the bond.

“We’re going to be out knocking on doors,” he said.