To make her case for why voters should favor Measure H, Coleen Parker drew the Crescent City Council’s attention to another proposed bond — this one aimed at improving school facilities statewide.
If Del Norters approve the $59 million general obligation bond Del Norte Unified School District placed on the ballot this presidential election, DNUSD stands a better chance at receiving state facilities money should California’s Proposition 2 succeed, Parker told councilors on Monday.
“The way the Office of Public School Construction works is … if you are in a community that has passed a bond, now your community says, ‘Yes, schools are important to us.’ They help with matching dollars in a variety of things,” said Parker, who retired from DNUSD about two years ago and is part of the Support Our Kids — Yes On Measure H Committee. “If our [Measure] H doesn’t pass and the state bond does, the chances of Del Norte seeing any of that money is very slim.”
If approved, Measure H would add an extra $59 per $100,000 valuation to the taxes Del Norte County property owners pay. It would overlap with an existing $53 per $100,000 valuation Del Norte property owners pay as a result of Measure A, a school facilities bond measure that passed in 2008, according to Parker.
Measure H funding would be used to repair and replace leaky roofs, modernize career technical education facilities, repair plumbing and sewer systems, update electrical systems and make security improvements.
The district’s bond money can only be spent in Del Norte County, “so the state cannot come and take away these monies,” Parker told the Council.
Other members on the Support Our Kids — Yes On Measure H Committee include Patti Vernelson, Abbie Crist and Don McArthur, Parker told Redwood Voice Community News on Thursday. Crist and McArthur represent Del Norte County districts 2 and 1 on the School Board, however they’re advocating for Measure H as individual citizens, Parker said.
The DNUSD Board of Trustees approved a resolution to seek voter approval for Measure H in June, roughly three months after a financial advisor said the chances were good that Del Norters would support a school facilities bond.
According to Jon Isom, of Isom Advisors, out of a total 359 households his firm surveyed in January, 57 percent indicated support for a school facilities bond. The survey included a range of additional costs to property owners with voters being more inclined to support the lower proposed tax rate, Isom told trustees on March 14.
Isom urged trustees to speak with key stakeholders, including other elected officials.
Following Isom’s presentation in March, trustees asked DNUSD officials for a five-year facilities master plan that was created about two years ago, noting they would need to be as specific as possible to drum up voter support.
According to Parker, it would cost DNUSD $123 million to make all the repairs outlined in its five-year facilities master plan. Bond money from Measure H would not only help the district address items on that master plan, DNUSD could use it to try to access state dollars, she said.
In fact, Parker told Redwood Voice, if Measure H fails, DNUSD could also lose out on any state money Proposition 2 generates. Also appearing on the November ballot, Proposition 2 would issue $10 billion in bonds with $8.5 billion dedicated to improving K12 facilities. The remaining $1.5 billion would go toward community college facility improvements, according to Ballotpedia.
It was here that Parker, who had been the Del Norte High School principal, mentioned Measure A — the $25 million GO bond voters approved in 2008 that paved the way for the construction of the Smith River School gym.
On Monday, Parker told the City Council that Measure A paid for renovations to the kitchen at Crescent Elk Middle School, which prepares food for all the schools in the district except Del Norte High.
Measure A bond dollars were also used to leverage other funding sources to install new fire alarms at the high school and build the workshop that houses its tiny house program, Parker said. In the case of the tiny house workshop, DNUSD had received a grant that required a 50 percent contribution.
According to Parker, the district was able to use bond funding to pay to install the electrical system at the workshop as its grant match.
Measure A bond dollars were used to leverage state facilities funding to install new fire alarms at the high school as well as the workshop that houses its tiny house program, Parker said. In the case of the tiny house workshop, DNUSD
Measure A bond funding was also used to upgrade DNUSD’s internet infrastructure, Parker said.
“Had we not done that, during COVID it would have been much more challenging for us to do online education,” she told Redwood Voice.
That upgraded internet infrastructure also enabled DNUSD to become a hub for communications during the Smith River Complex wildfires and subsequent power outage, she said.
Since voters approved Measure A in 2008, the DNUSD Board chose to refinance that bond three times to get a lower interest rate. As a result, as of 2019, the tax property owners had paid dropped from roughly $55 per $100,000 of assessed value to $53 per parcel, the Wild Rivers Outpost reported.
If voters approve Measure H, DNUSD will be required to establish a citizens oversight committee.
Another local bond measure voters will be asked to weigh in on is Measure I, a facilities bond benefiting College of the Redwoods. This $120 million bond measure would cost property owners in the Redwoods Community College District $25 per $100,000 of assessed valuation. According to an online information page from CR, the money would be spent to repair leaky roofs, upgrade educational and training facilities for nursing and public health students and to improve classrooms and labs.
CR also plans to rebuild student housing, provide facilities for veterans and upgrade the community stadium.
The Redwoods Community College District encompasses Humboldt, Del Norte and Trinity counties.
Ballots were sent to California voters starting on Monday. For more Del Norte elections info, click here.
