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Published on 06/29/1998 All articles from this issue

School district to put $94.7 million bond on November ballot

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By Linda Taaffe / Town Crier Staff Writer

During the regular board meeting June 29, the Los Altos School District Board of Trustees voted to place a $94.7 million bond measure on this November's ballot to fund its Master Facilities Plan.

The decision came after an intensive yearlong study of school sites and the recent approval of a facilities plan to upgrade the district's aging schools.

The board studied several funding options as well as placing a bond on a special election ballot next March or June.

Board members agreed that the facilities plan has generated a wave of enthusiasm among residents that they believe will ride out through November.

"The sooner a bond passes, the sooner the district can start construction," said Superintendent Marge Gratiot.

The facilities plan includes reopening Covington School as a seventh elementary school to keep enrollment under 500 at each of the six elementary school sites; replacing all portable buildings; renovating or constructing new, larger multipurpose buildings and libraries; and adding two-story structures at some sites to allow more play space. Plumbing, heating and ventilation systems, windows and roofing will be replaced. Buildings will be seismically reinforced and brought up to meet current codes. More electrical units, insulation and exterior lighting will be added.

The plan will take about six years to complete, according to Randy Kenyon, assistant superintendent of business services. He said the total cost for the project would be about $85 million. Inflation over the next six years would bring that amount up to about $98.7 million by the end of the project. Interest from the bond will provide the additional needed $4 million.

Under state law, the district is allowed to ask for 1.25 percent of its assessed valuation in bonds. The bonding capacity, according to Kenyon, is currently $64 million but will exceed $90 million during the next six years.

The bond would cost taxpayers an average of approximately $55 per $100,000 assessed property value each year. The bond would need a two-thirds majority vote.