School bond to hit ballot in June

As Measure R funds dwindle, the Las Virgenes Unified School District is gearing up to place a new, $98 million bond measure before voters on the June ballot.

Board members voted unanimously in favor of a Draft Facilities Master Plan, which outlines costs of specific capital improvements at each of the 15 schools in the district.

The final Measure R funds are being spent on the latest addition to the school district—the new Yerba Buena Elementary School. Lindero Canyon Middle School will be the next school to be expanded and upgraded. State-of-the-art science classrooms similar to those at A.E. Wright Middle School and A.C. Stelle Middle School will be included in the Lindero expansion. Lindero is the oldest school in the district and has yet to be upgraded.

Measure R was a $93 million bond measure passed by local voters in 1997. The cost of projects rose to about $140 million, but the school district was successful in securing state aid, matching grants, additional developer fees and other money to complete some 200 improvement projects.

School administrators and architects have been meeting for the past year to determine the needs at each school.

Unlike Measure R, which was limited in scope, the new bond will give the district greater flexibility and allow schools to use the funds to buy and replace technology.

If the bond measure passes, the district also will be able to fund performing arts centers at both Agoura and Calabasas High Schools. The performing arts centers are expected to cost $12 million apiece and will be available for public use as well.

Another goal will be to replace all the trailer classrooms in the school district with either permanent construction or modular units. Some of these classrooms are over 30 years old, according to district officials. The project is estimated to cost $8.5 million. The cost to replace the trailers at Agoura High and Calabasas High is about $1.8 million per school.

Other uses for the bond funds include disaster preparedness, new locker rooms, water conservation measures and upgrades in school infrastructure.

The total needed to complete all projects through 2020 is $112 million, officials said.

Gordon Whitehead, school board president, is worried that not all school needs will be met.

“I’m real concerned that we might leave something undone,” he said.

Zimring said that he believed all the needs district-wide have been identified, and that once a bond is issued, there is some latitude in how the money is spent, although all funds must be used for “brick and mortar” purposes and modernization versus “beautification.”

The district will poll the community about the proposed bond measure by February.

The June ballot would require a 55 percent majority to pass.